Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the timeframe for establishing and implementing the protocol in the new housing plan to allow households fleeing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to transfer time spent on a social housing waiting list to another local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65680/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As outlined in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030: An Action Plan on Housing Supply and Targeting Homelessness, a protocol to allow households fleeing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to transfer time spent on a social housing waiting list to another local authority will be established and implemented in H1 2026.

Under existing legislative arrangements, 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. However, the local authority may agree, at its discretion, to assess the household for support without the need to meet the normally resides or local connection criteria.

A household meeting either the 'normally resides' or 'local connection' condition may specify up to three areas of choice for receipt of support in the areas of all local authorities in the county and city concerned and, if qualified, will be entered on the housing waiting list of each of those local authorities. Accordingly, under existing arrangements, 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.

A household may, not less than 12 months after the date on which it is first entered on a housing authority’s housing list, notify the housing authority of application that it wishes to change one, or more than one, area of choice in the application area and a household may change one, or more than one, such area not less than 12 months after its most recent change of an area of choice. An applicant does not lose any time on the list by changing their area of choice.

Generally, is not possible for a household previously on one social housing waiting list to carry the time spent on that list when applying to another local authority. However, local authorities may provide for exceptional or emergency cases to qualified households, allowing immediate housing outside of normal waiting lists priorities, should circumstances require.