COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 13, 2026

QUESTION NO. 7

QUESTION: Councillor L. Dunne

To ask the Chief Executive to provide up to date figures for the number of people in South Dublin County receiving Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) housing support.

REPLY:

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is a form of social housing support operated by Local Authorities and involves a three-way relationship between a property owner, a local authority, and a tenant. Under the scheme, private rented properties provide an additional source of good quality rental accommodation for eligible tenants.

There are currently 845 RAS tenancies (including 195 CAS/RAS households) in South Dublin County. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) is preparing for the launch of a new RAS pilot scheme and SDCC has a nominee on the working group responsible for implementation / rollout of the scheme.

The primary objectives of this pilot are to:

• Increase private landlord participation in RAS; and
• Reduce homelessness by transitioning individuals and families from emergency accommodation into long-term housing through RAS.

Enhancements of the new scheme include:

• Flexibility to increase percentage of market rent payable to landlords
• Extension of RAS contract length 
• Enhanced damage compensation for landlords
• Option of front-loaded rental payments