Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I wish to focus on transparency and what the applicant is entitled to because I am getting different feedback from different local authorities. What level of information is the applicant entitled to?

I wish to deal with the administration and bureaucracy around the housing assessment form. Ms Mulholland mentioned the choice-based letting and the administration involved in that. We seem to be consumed by bureaucracy and paperwork which takes away a resource that could be spent better somewhere else. Is there any technology that can streamline the process and make it more beneficial to everybody involved so as to keep the key resources to be spent on more important issues?

I have not had much experience of choice-based letting because it is more the traditional way of letting in County Wicklow. Is there a comparison of how the two systems are working out? I imagine the only way we can work this out is by the refusal rates and the reasons for refusals. Have we data on refusals of choice-based lettings compared with refusals of traditional letting?

The CCMA gave us the average waiting list and the breakdown of the numbers. Threshold said that 45% of people on the waiting list are single people. Do we have a breakdown not just in years on the list but the different categories of people on the list, such as the number of single people on the list? We are saying that 24% are on the list for seven years or more. Of that 24%, would the number of single people be 75% of the total? Do we have an analysis of the data giving the different groupings and how long they are on the waiting list?

Ms Kathleen Holohan mentioned home visits and perhaps she could elaborate on those. Does she mean that when an application is made, an official goes out to ensure that the application is returned or is there something else that I am missing in respect of home visits? Ms Holohan also made the point that the definition of homelessness needs to be clarified or reviewed. Will she explain what exactly she means by that? We had a debate with the Minister last week on homelessness. Will Ms Holohan revert to us on that please?

Ms Holohan mentioned data and the transfer of data information between different bodies and different sources. How can we streamline that process because in some ways that can block up the whole system?