Ms Marcella Stakem:

I will address the question in respect of the impact of Covid on HAP tenancies. Like Threshold, we plan to carry out research and analysis on this issue early in the new year. What we in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul have noticed is an increase in calls. Last year, we received 160,000 calls for assistance. We expect that figure to increase generally because of loss of income and loss of employment. The period coming up to Christmas is our busiest time of the year. What we notice is that people do not specifically contact us about rent arrears. They tend to seek help with food, a utility bill or an education cost, but when one of our members visits the person, they find there are rent arrears or there is difficulty paying rent and that the core problem the household is having. The initial call may be around food but the actual problem is around an unsustainable top-up the person is trying to pay.