Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are almost two processes going on, namely, the social housing application and the HAP application. I will focus first on the social housing application, because that is the slowest part from what we have seen. It is a very cumbersome application form and there is a great deal of documentation associated with it, whether it is original birth certificates, getting translations and so on. This is an issue that throws up a great number of challenges for applicants. Is there a way of making the social housing application more streamlined, practical and doable for people? It is taking more than 16 weeks to complete the process in many places. Yesterday, a lady who had just got a request for further information on an application submitted on 31 January – more than 20 weeks ago - came to my constituency office. She will, like many others, be starting back to get documentation reassessed. Is there some way of following up with the councils and making sure they are meeting the 16-week target? Are they being questioned on it? What process is in place?

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