Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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261. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) returned a valid and complete HAP application to Sligo County Council in August 2018 and that the landlord has failed to complete and submit the HAP documentation to the council thereby precluding the payment of housing assistance payment; his plans to introduce legislation which will allow a housing authority to take legal action against a landlord that refuses or fails to complete HAP documentation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48647/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Under the Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) scheme, eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector. The earliest date a HAP payment will be payable to a landlord is the date a complete and valid HAP application has been received by the local authority. Limerick City and County Council provide a highly effective transactional shared service for HAP on behalf of all local authorities. This HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) manages all HAP-related rental transactions for the tenant, local authority and landlord. Once a HAP application has been received and confirmed as valid by the relevant local authority, it is then processed by the HAP SSC. On average, HAP applications are processed by the HAP Shared Service Centre within 1 working day of receipt. Any rental payment arising for a given month will then be made to a landlord on the last Wednesday of that month. 

A landlord or an agent acting on behalf of a landlord is not legally obliged to enter into a tenancy agreement with a HAP recipient. However, on 1 January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 introduced “housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. This means that discrimination in the provision of accommodation or related service and amenities against people in receipt of rent supplement, HAP or other social welfare payments is prohibited. Further information is available at www.ihrec.ie/your-rights/i-have-an-issue-with-a-service/i-have-an-issue-about-accommodation/.

If a person feels that they have been discriminated against by a landlord or their agent, they can make a complaint under the Equal Status Acts to the Workplace Relations Commission; further information is available on the Commission's website, www.workplacerelations.ie. 

In relation to the case raised, the day-to-day operation of the HAP scheme is a matter for the relevant local authority and I am precluded by legislation from becoming involved in individual cases.