Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is very difficult to interact with Deputy Barry because he always mischaracterises and misrepresents the people with whom he engages. I am very sorry for that, because the case he raises is disgusting. There are many power imbalances in Irish society as in every society, but if the particular case he raises, of which I do not know any details, is true it is disgusting. However, Deputy Barry is incorrect to link it with HAP. He does not understand what HAP is. HAP is a payment support that comes through a local authority to help someone into the private rental sector. There are more than 900,000 people in the private rental sector and the vast majority of them have appropriate experiences.

Deputy Barry says he is now going to look into these allegations. He should probably look into them before he raises them. All he seems to do is undermine a system of assistance that is helping tens of thousands of people in housing insecurity into homes. The more Deputy Barry talks down an assistance support like HAP, the more landlords will not want to take it - they cannot refuse it, but they will seek other ways to get around it - and the more individuals in housing insecurity will be afraid of using this support, which is ridiculous.