Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)

I thank the Ombudsman for his work. The housing assistance payment is an area that I have researched and done work on. The Ombudsman's findings on HAP are important in highlighting the problems with the payment. Perhaps we could discuss a few of them. The other area I want to discuss is disability and the Office of the Ombudsman's powers and resources.

Mr. Deering spoke about inequalities in respect of HAP tenants compared with those in traditional or permanent social housing. There are huge problems there, as he outlined, in terms of top-up payments, issues relating to security of tenure and even waiting lists. Does he think HAP should be defined as social housing, as set out in the legislation? That is the fundamental question.