Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This is the third time this week I find myself talking to a very nice set of curtains and a couple of television screens and it does not feel any better the more I do it. I am sure the Minister would rather be in the Chamber than the committee room. I wish to record my appreciation for the work that was done in getting those two payments up and running so quickly. I thank the staff in the Department who have worked on it and the community welfare officers who have been doing a really important job in dealing with some of the issues that have cropped up. Service has been scaled back compared to how it was delivered in the past but it has been scaled up in the context of this crisis. It may need more resources because people are applying for the likes of rent supplement as opposed to the housing assistance payment, HAP, because of the way local authorities are required to work at the moment. There are some delays in processing those applications. What dialogue is the Minister having with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government on the HAP scheme as opposed to the rent supplement scheme? It seems to be picking up the lion's share of the applications and that is reflected to some degree in the Revised Estimate. I ask the Minister to address that matter first and I will then ask her some other questions.

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