Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 October 2020
53. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the increasing length of time it is taking to process HAP applications; and his further views on the impact the delay may be having on tenants. [28367/20]
View answerDespite the challenges faced throughout the period of the Covid emergency measures, local authorities and the Housing Assistance Payment Shared Service Centre (HAPSSC) have continued to provide a critical service to all HAP customers. This is evident in the high number of HAP tenancies that continued to be set-up this year. The 2020 HAP target is for 15,750 additional tenancies and, at the end of Q2 2020, 7,825 HAP tenancies (49% of target) had been established.
My Department and local authorities are keenly aware of the importance of minimising HAP processing times and the critical need to keep this under review at a local level. My Department has recently communicated this to local authority management through the County and City Management Association.
Despite difficulties experienced due to Covid-19, local authorities carried out extraordinary work during this time. Unsurprisingly, measures that were required to be taken in the context of Covid-19 do, however, appear to have had an impact on HAP processing times, particularly in Q2 2020 when average processing time was 40 days. An analysis of more recent data from the HAP SSC indicates a reduction on that average processing time in the period July / August 2020 to 38 days.
It should be acknowledged that any delay in tenants and landlords supplying relevant information, or inaccuracies or missing information, will impact on the processing time of the HAP application. However, in instances where there are delays at the processing stage within a local authority, payment to the landlord will be backdated to the date on which a complete and valid application form was received by the local authority. The landlord is, therefore, not penalised for any delay.
Through our ongoing engagement with local authorities my Department has stressed the need to minimise delays in processing these vital applications to ensure the social housing needs of tenants can be met through the HAP scheme where required. My Department is closely monitoring this situation and will continue to do so over the coming months.
