I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 382 together.
The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) commenced in late 2005 and to the end of February 2014 some 48,503 households have been transferred from Rent Supplement to RAS and other social housing options. My Department does not hold information on the number of households in RAS at any given time. Numbers in RAS constantly vary as contracts end, tenants move on to other properties, landlords withdraw from the scheme, new tenancies are allocated or vacancies in contracted units are filled. The amount of rent paid through RAS is a matter for individual authorities, having regard to the need to obtain value for money. Since the inception of the Rental Accommodation Scheme in 2004, expenditure up to the end of 2013 has totalled €643.2 million. The following table sets out the total annual expenditure from 2004 to 2013.
|
Year
|
Annual Expenditure
|
|
2004
|
€164,836
|
|
2005
|
€723,281
|
|
2006
|
€6,199,980
|
|
2007
|
€27,384,837
|
|
2008
|
€53,025,430
|
|
2009
|
€83,394,513
|
|
2010
|
€100,076,430
|
|
2011
|
€115,917,365
|
|
2012
|
€125,429,966
|
|
2013
|
€130,886,608
|
During the first quarter of 2014 € 25,385,339.15 was recouped to local authorities bringing the overall total recouped from 2004 up to end March 2014 to €668,588,585.15. Recoupment made to local authorities under the RAS covers not only the contracted rents due to private landlords but also payments that are made to Approved Housing Bodies, administration costs, deposits on newly acquired accommodation, payments made in respect of additional units supplied under the Social Partnership Agreement Towards 2016 and up to very recently payments in respect of homeless persons. My Department does not hold data on the amount directly paid by local authorities to private landlords in rents nor does it have access to the amounts concerned by each local authority area. In the matter of the number of RAS tenants that have notices to quit, I refer to the reply to Question No. 161 of 3 April 2014.
