Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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One cannot apply for rent assistance until one gets on the waiting list, which may take three months. One must then apply for rent assistance, but it can take up to three months to receive it. It is only after this three month period that one qualifies for rent assistance. Therefore, the tenant may not have been able to pay rent for a period of six months. The State has a responsibility in this regard.

What does one do in that kind of situation? In general, tenants do not want to stop paying their rent because they know that if they are to continue renting, they will need a reference. Sometimes, however, these situations arise. It is all very well for us to talk about this in an academic sense, but in a practical sense a cohort of people will run into difficulty. If a community welfare officer or the Department of Social Protection even gets a whiff that there is a dispute, they will stop giving rent assistance. That happens, so these matters tie into this until we get to the point where the HAP system is in place.