Mr. Ger Deering:

This has happened more than once. Local authorities have to continually assess their housing list. Every year or two they will contact people on the housing list to make sure those people are still in need of housing. The local authority then reviews its list. Many councils are still doing this inquiry by letter. They write to the family, whether it is a Traveller family or a non-Traveller family, asking certain questions and asking them to confirm that they are still on the housing list.

This has happened in more than one area where the local authority will write to a Traveller family who may have moved. There may be other reasons why a letter is not the most suitable way to contact that family. The local authority does not receive a response from the family so it takes the family off the housing list. Then at a later stage, when it becomes evident that this has happened they have to rectify the situation. Let us say that a person has been on the housing list since 2012 and this issue happens in 2020, they will reinstate the family from the date the situation was rectified. That is not fair or reasonable. The family should be reinstated from the time they were originally on the housing list if they are still in need of housing. That is our view and we have talked to local authorities about this topic and we are going to talk further. Local authorities need to find a way of communicating effectively that works for people so they can be sure that people are receiving the information and the request to update the housing list.