Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2016
236. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the funding his Department provided, the amount drawn down and the number of tenancies this supported under the housing assistance payment scheme, by local authority, for each year since the scheme commenced, in tabular form. [11540/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFunding for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme has increased year on year, since it commenced in September 2014, in order to meet the continuing costs of existing HAP households, and the costs of an additional households to be supported. The majority of this funding is to support on-going rent payments to landlords in respect of existing HAP households and the cost of additional HAP tenancies as households find accommodation through the scheme during the year. In addition funding also includes the operational costs of the HAP shared service centre and the costs of the HAP Administrative Payment made to local authorities operating the scheme.
Table 1 which provides details of all voted Exchequer funding allocated and spent on HAP since the scheme commenced in September 2014 and the number of additional households supported by the scheme in each of those years, as indicated.
TABLE 1
|
Year |
Exchequer allocation (€M) |
Outturn (€M) |
Additional Households supported by HAP |
|
2014 |
0.5 |
0.394 |
485 |
|
2015 |
23.2 |
15.64 |
5, 680 |
|
2016 |
47.7 |
2.2 ( end March provisional ) |
2,531 ( to end March) |
Further information in relation to the number of households supported by HAP in each local authority area is available on my Department’s website www.environ.ie.
The primary administrative support to HAP local authorities is the central transactional shared service being provided by Limerick City and County Council to all local authorities operating the HAP scheme. This shared service is responsible for a range of functions including monthly payments to landlords and the collection of weekly differential rent from tenants and provides a range of efficiencies to the operation of the scheme. Accordingly all funding supplied by my Department relating to rent payments for landlords is made directly to the central transactional shared service centre.
In order to cover staffing and administrative costs arising from the operation of the HAP scheme in their area, local authorities are provided with a direct once-off administrative payment of €150 per household set up under the HAP scheme. This payment was commenced in 2015, when some €993,000 was paid by my Department in HAP administration costs directly to local authorities. This payment was made in respect of tenancies set up in both 2014 and 2015, and also included some minimum payments to authorities who had started delivering the scheme in late 2015. Similar payments will be made to relevant local authorities in respect of 2016 tenancies on a six monthly basis in 2016.
Table 2 details administrative payments made to each authority in 2015 in respect of tenancies established in 2014 and 2015.
TABLE 2
|
Local Authority |
HAP Administrative Payment to end 2015 |
|
Carlow County Council |
€25,377 |
|
Clare County Council |
€37,950 |
|
Cork City Council |
€25,377 |
|
Cork County Council |
€146,250 |
|
Donegal County Council |
€76,050 |
|
Dublin City Council* |
€13,350 |
|
Galway County Council |
€5,000 |
|
Kildare County Council |
€5,000 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
€90,300 |
|
Limerick City & County Council ** |
€171,000 |
|
Louth County Council |
€99,450 |
|
Mayo County Council |
€5,000 |
|
Meath County Council |
€5,000 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
€28,800 |
|
Offaly County Council |
€27,257 |
|
Sligo County Council |
€5,000 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
€91,200 |
|
Tipperary County Council |
€26,100 |
|
Waterford City & County Council |
€109,650 |
|
Total |
€993,111 |
* Operates Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and HAP Homeless Pilot scheme for all Dublin Local Authorities.
** Denotes administrative funding supplied to Limerick for their operation of the HAP scheme locally, and is separate to the costs of the Shared Service Centre.
