Ms Siobhán O'Donoghue:

I can speak on some of the cases we receive. A common case we receive is somebody not getting their discretionary increase. We find that local authorities have differing approaches to this. Some local authorities apply it as a matter of course. Often, depending on their market, they accept that it needs to be done. Other local authorities require people to go ahead and ask for it, so people need to know this. Some local authorities do not give the entire top-up at one time. We have had a number of these types of queries.

With regard to other types of cases, another common issue faced is how tenancy in good faith is dealt with. Again, the legislation requires that the tenancy be in good faith but the detail on this is not always clear. We have found local authorities are often very focused on situations where there is a family member involved in a rental situation but this might not mean that tenancy is in good faith. There may be a previous rental history. This can often be a stumbling block. We have dealt with many cases where people are delayed because they are going back and forth trying to prove their tenancy is in good faith but, for whatever reason, the proof is not accepted.

Other cases we have had involve proof of ownership. Various houses present various anomalies in terms of how ownership is demonstrated. We have had landlords come to us who have not been in position to satisfy, for whatever reason, the requirement of proof of ownership. All of these delay people's HAP applications, which means the tenant is not in receipt of the HAP payment. They might be in a position where they have to pay the rent because they need to protect the tenancy. Then there can be difficulties trying to get backdated payments. As Deputy Hearne has said, these are people who have a housing need. Requiring them to pay rent could have a significant consequence for people. That is a broad outline of the type of case we get.