John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perfect. To move on to cost rental and tenant in situ, every local authority has the document. There is a local authority referral form with four boxes covering valid notice to quit, eligibility for social housing supports, the landlord's consent to sell and the local authority assessing the individual or household as being at risk of homelessness using established procedures. This is where I have a bit of an issue because the established procedures in each local authority are a little different. We have an integrated homeless hub in Waterford. This issue affects people who have never interacted with the local authority, let alone gone next nor near a homeless hub. It is a desktop exercise. We have information on the people's income, we have their notice to quit and we have the information that the landlord is willing to engage in the process. What is the need for these people to attend in person an integrated homeless hub to be asked whether they have tried to find alternative accommodation, to which they will answer "Yes", and whether they have been able to do so, to which they will answer "No", so they can be told they will be put forward to the Housing Agency? It is needlessly clogging up staff resources. The referral could easily be done in a desktop exercise and this needs to go out to the local authorities.