I propose to take Questions Nos. 418 and 419 together.
The most recent Summary of Social Housing Assessments, carried out as at 7 May 2013, found that there were 2,810 households on the waiting lists of the Limerick local authorities at this date. The full results of the 2013 Summary are available at the following link: http://www.housing.ie/News/Current-News/18-12-13-Summary-of-Social-Housing-Assessments-201.pdf.
The 2013 figures are the most up-to-date figures available on waiting list numbers, which are subject to on-going fluctuation due to households being allocated housing and new households applying for housing support. The 2013 results cannot be directly compared to previous assessments as the latest summary employed new and updated methodologies and was the first to be carried out under the 2011 Social Housing Assessment Regulations.
In order to get the most accurate data relating to the numbers applying for social housing support, the Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, includes a commitment to increase the regularity of the summary of social housing assessments by undertaking it on annual basis from 2016 onwards.