Dáil debates

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Ceisteanna - Questions

Departmental Projects

4:10 pm

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very difficult to talk about well-being if we are talking about situations where people are going to be evicted and forced into homelessness. I return to the issue I spoke about earlier, which is that people in housing assistance payment, HAP, tenancies, if they fall into arrears, are not given an opportunity to enter into a payment plan. People are being asked to pony up money, which can be up to €3,000. I have spoken about a number of instances where people were caught in a bad situation through absolutely dreadful circumstances beyond their control and were willing to pay this money, but unless they went to a loan shark, they were not able to provide this money straight away. All that happens in such situations is the HAP is not paid to the landlord, the landlord evicts these tenants, and these people then go back to homeless services in the county council. We are looking to find a solution for one candidate who is in a bad circumstance by seeking an additional needs payment. That is not how the system should be working. That is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

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