Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 October 2025
252. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing assistance payment applications submitted in County Kildare from 2022 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56266/25]
View answer253. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of landlords currently accepting housing assistance payment in County Kildare from 2022 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56267/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 252 and 253 together.
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate housing support that is available to all eligible households throughout the State. Under HAP, a tenant sources their own accommodation in the private rented market. At the end of Q1 2025, almost 127,000 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were 52,657 households actively in receipt of HAP support.
The table below provides a breakdown of the total number of active HAP tenancies in Kildare County Council from 2022 to end Q1 2025, in addition to the number of new HAP tenancies set up in each year.
|
- |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
Q1 2025 |
|
Active HAP Tenancies |
2,032 |
1,799 |
1,732 |
1,757 |
|
HAP Tenancies Set up |
324 |
429 |
413 |
112 |
My Department does not hold data on the number of landlords currently accepting HAP in Kildare. A landlord or an agent acting on behalf of a landlord is not legally obliged to enter into a tenancy agreement specifically with a HAP recipient. However, on 1 January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 introduced “housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. This means that discrimination in the provision of accommodation or related service and amenities against people in receipt of rent supplement, HAP or other social welfare payments is prohibited. Further information is available at www.ihrec.ie/your-rights/housing/housing-assistance-payment/.
If a person feels that they have been discriminated against by a landlord or their agent, they can make a complaint under the Equal Status Acts to the Workplace Relations Commission; further information is available on the Commission's website, www.workplacerelations.ie/en/.
