Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1125.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated full year cost of increasing HAP limits to the average cost of rents in each area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32509/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme plays a vital role in housing eligible families and individuals. At the end of Q1 2024, over 119,000 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were nearly 55,758 households actively in receipt of HAP support.

The 2024 budget allocation of €525 million will enable continued support for existing tenancies along with funding for 8,800 new households to be accommodated in HAP supported tenancies.

My Department does not hold data in a format that would allow for an estimate of the cost as requested. Budgets are agreed as part of the annual Estimates process.

Since 11 July 2022, each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit, and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single persons households. Discretion can be increased up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits for Homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin. The additional discretion available to homeless households recognises the difficulty this cohort of households face in sourcing and securing properties in a highly competitive rental market. It is a matter for the local authority to determine whether the application of the flexibility is warranted on a case by case basis and also the level of additional discretion applied in each case.

My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review and closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into account other sources of data, including Residential Tenancies Board rent data published on a quarterly basis.