Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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559. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government whether the local connection rule applies to people fleeing domestic violence seeking social housing support and for an update to the social housing passport proposal. [38851/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The qualification criteria for social housing support are set down in Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.

A household may apply for social housing support to one local authority only, which may be the authority for the area in which the household normally resides or with which it has a local connection, or where the authority agrees, at its discretion, to assess the household for support.

Therefore, in accordance with the Regulations there is discretion for a local authority to accept applications from any household, including people fleeing domestic violence, that is not resident in its functional area without having established a local connection with the authority’s functional area. Accepting such an application is entirely a matter for the individual authority concerned.

In relation to the Housing Passport, the concept intended to facilitate eligible social housing applicants to access social housing in any local authority of their preference has been considered by my Department in consultation with local authorities. An initial scoping exercise was carried out by my Department which identified a range of practical and administrative issues and resource implications for local authorities including the absence of a technology to support such an approach.

It should be noted however, there is already a degree of flexibility regarding housing waiting lists. The four Dublin local authorities have arrangements allowing social housing applicants apply for housing in up to two of the other Dublin authorities simultaneously. Similar arrangements apply in the two Cork and two Galway local authorities. Households may also move and relocate between housing authority areas under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme where the household income is within the relevant income limits.

In June 2022, the Department of Justice published Zero Tolerance, the Third National Strategy on DSGBV 2022-2026 which is a cross-Departmental and multi-agency plan with overall policy coordinated by the Department of Justice . As an action in this strategy, my Department committed to a review of the 2017 Policy and Procedural Guidance for Housing Authorities in relation to assisting victims of domestic violence with emergency and long-term accommodation needs in order to ensure continuing effectiveness and consistency in responses to assist victims of domestic violence. My Department is currently engaging with Cuan, the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Agency in relation to this review and proposed recommendations arising from the review.