Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will elaborate on a further example. I mentioned the man with early-onset Alzheimer's, who is also in a housing assistance payment, HAP, arrangement where he had to pay a top-up. Before getting Alzheimer's, he was working and could make the top-up. Since he got Alzheimer's, he cannot work or make the top-up and is falling into arrears. No appointment was possible.

With our assistance, eventually an application with all the bits and bobs goes in and a cheque arrives for €600, but the arrears, which are not the fault of the people but of their complex circumstances, are €1,000. Their problem is not solved. They needed to talk to an individual to explain their circumstances. I do not blame the CWOs because clearly they are overrun. We need staffing levels in the service that allow people to go to the CWO and explain complicated circumstances and get responses which acknowledge the complexity, difficulty and, often, desperation of the situation they are in.

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