Ms Deirdre Mason:

HAP tenancies are in the private rental market and are governed by the Residential Tenancies Acts. Protections are under those Acts as opposed to specifically for HAP tenants. However, because the shared services centre provides a listing of the landlords to Revenue, there is enforcement based on the data in the list the shared services centre provides to the RTB quarterly. The enforcement is on its side rather than on the local authority side because the local authority has an agreement with the tenant as opposed to the landlord. The tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord as it would normally be in any private tenancy arrangement.