Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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671. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason persons on the working family payment are not entitled to HAP (details supplied). [48439/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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In order for a household to qualify for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), they must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP.

The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended, prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority in different bands according to the area concerned, with income defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy.

The policy provides for a range of income disregards and local authorities have discretion to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once-off in nature. All income from social assistance payments, allowances and benefits, including the working family payment, is assessable.

The payments included in the Policy were last reviewed in 2021. As it was found that the majority of working family payment recipients are in receipt of the payment for more than one year, it was recommended that the working family payment should not be considered short term in nature and, therefore, should remain as assessable income. However, my Department keeps the Household Means Policy under regular review in order to ensure that it continues to be appropriate.

More detail on what income is assessable and the full list of disregards is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/fb1f2-social-housing-support-household-means-policy/