Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Ms Faughnan for her presentation. I have a query on the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. Most people in receipt of rent supplement are being put onto the HAP scheme regardless of whether they want that. They are getting letters from the Department of Social Protection to the effect that they must sign up for HAP or else their payments will be cancelled.

Ms Faughnan referred to people of whom we were aware who might be making top-up payments on their rent supplement. Let us be fair - every single person in receipt of rent supplement is paying a top-up. This is probably something that is not discussed publicly but I have not encountered anyone in receipt of rent supplement who is not paying a top-up. This is because the limits are too low.

Ms Faughnan referred to extending the protocol for additional payments to Dublin's commuter counties, which is welcome, and Galway city but she did not mention Limerick city. I have always been perplexed by this, as there is a major problem in Limerick, particularly in terms of social housing and private renting in that sector. If the witnesses do not have the figures, they might send them to us later, but how many people per county who are on the HAP scheme have received top-ups? Some councils claim that they cannot make top-ups. Nineteen councils are administering the HAP scheme for the Department, four Dublin councils do it through the homeless services and Limerick council operates all of it, but the perception is that the HAP limit has been set and cannot be increased even though I understand that it can be.