HAP caps should be revised regularly to reflect rental market, Ombudsman says
Overly complex processes and the duplication of work by local authorities causing delays to housing assistance payment (HAP) applications, alongside the refusal of legitimate applications, were among the issues discovered by an
Ombudsman
investigation.
Ombudsman Ger Deering said his office received numerous complaints from the public, and identified shortcomings through voluntary housing and homeless groups regarding the scheme before its investigation.
Launched in 2014, the HAP payment to landlords was intended to cover the full cost of a household's rent. Due to significant increases in
rent
rates, however, two-thirds of HAP households were paying the difference between the HAP cap and the actual cost of rent in 2023.
Some 53,742 households were in receipt of HAP at the end of 2024, meaning the same number of rentals have been removed from the private rental sector, the Ombudsman said, contributing to a sustained increase in the rate of rents.
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The availability of rental properties coming under the HAP limits is declining as rents increase, prompting a recommendation from the Ombudsman that caps should be revised on a regular basis to reflect the rental market.
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More than 100 families in Dublin at risk of homelessness as tenant-in-situ applications paused
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Among the findings of its investigation into HAP's administration was a 'duplication of work' being done by local authorities resulting in potential delays.
Although households approved for social housing support are immediately eligible for HAP, they must make separate applications, resulting in repetition.
The report also highlighted the 'overly complex' requirement for local authorities to seek approval from the HAP shared services centre (SSC) before amendments to HAP records or applications for approval can be made.
It noted that the SSC processed 5,821 amendments in one sample month during the investigation.
The investigation also found further 'unnecessary delays' when it comes to validating applications and verifying landlords' proof of ownership.
Delays increase the risk of inability to secure properties, it said.
Separately, the Ombudsman found that some local authorities are refusing HAP applications despite all evidence suggesting a tenancy is legitimate, while others have approved HAP where it should not have been.
Local authorities have 'broad discretion' when determining whether a tenancy is genuine, with decisions not always accounting for each case being different or nuanced.
In particular, it said local authorities place 'undue weight on family relationships even where all other evidence suggests the tenancy is legitimate'.
Separately, despite being legislatively considered socially housed, HAP tenants do not have access to the same benefits as their counterparts in standard social housing such as tailored arrears repayment plans.
These inequities pose a risk of HAP tenants falling into a 'poverty trap,' it said.
'This unfairness is compounded by the fact that they do not have the security of tenure that their counterparts in other forms of social housing have,' the Ombudsman said.
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Irish Times
33 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Inside Ireland's thriving cocktail scene: ‘We have some of the highest quality ingredients in the world'
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Ariel Sanecki, Pig's Lane, Killarney Originally from Poland , Sanecki spent time at the luxury Cliff House Hotel and Adare Manor before taking up his current role at Pig's Lane in Killarney . It's a relative newcomer to the drink scene, having opened in October 2023, but it is proving popular, currently serving around 800 cocktails on a Saturday night. Sanecki is passionate about Irish whiskey and has grown the Pig's Lane collection to about 360 bottles, of which 95 per cent are Irish. He wants to push that number closer to 500, purchasing some bottles new, with older editions sourced from collectors or auctions. He also loves to visit distilleries around the island, getting to know the people and stories behind the product. 'Americans love to learn about Irish whiskey so I have to know about it,' he says. READ MORE 'I see big differences compared to 10 years ago. Bartenders have much more knowledge now, with experience built up working abroad before coming home. There are new techniques and tools available which were previously only to be found in Michelin kitchens. Clear ice is one such tool. It makes a big difference to how a cocktail looks and how it drinks as it helps control temperature and dilution.' Sanecki believes good cocktails always start with quality ingredients. The bar team makes many components in house, using local products, including herbs and honey from the hotel garden. 'Ireland has some of the highest quality ingredients in the world and our new menu showcases all our suppliers. I was recently able to find an Irish cold-brew coffee liqueur to use in our signature drink The Black Stuff, making it even more Irish,' says Sanecki. 'I feel people are drinking less but higher quality. Sustainability is important. We are purchasing spirits in large pouches which are used to refill bottles. The spirit cost is cheaper plus there are savings in transporting and recycling glass bottles.' Dave Taylor, Bar 1661 and The Sackville Lounge Dave Taylor, The Sackville Lounge and Bar 1661. Photograph: Al Higgins 'I was working at The Shelbourne and, one day, an American asked for a vodka martini. I didn't know how to make it. I never wanted to feel like that again and that evening I spent several hundred euro on cocktail books. That was the start of my obsession.' Following time at bars around Dublin, Taylor moved to London where he learned how to run a bar in a completely different way. 'Everything was so clean; they had immaculate backbars,' he recalls. He brought these lessons home and incorporated them into 1661 and its new sibling, The Sackville Lounge. Taylor's attention to detail is everywhere. 'There are two freezers at each station in The Sackville. One freezer has glasses at -20 degrees the other has the pre-mixed martinis at -17 degrees. This allows for a martini which really packs a punch. 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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Death In Derry - Martin McGuinness and the Derry IRA's War Against The British: Strong on candour, weak on analysis
Death In Derry: Martin McGuinness and the Derry IRA's War Against The British Author : Jonathan Trigg ISBN-13 : 978-1785375477 Publisher : Merrion Press Guideline Price : €19.99 This book is a valuable contribution to the literature of the Troubles period and the history of the IRA. Jonathan Trigg has secured interviews with several former British soldiers and IRA members, many under pseudonyms. This is new material. The weaknesses in the book are that it is not strong on political analysis and that it accepts simplistic versions of key events such as the Battle of the Bogside and the Falls Road rioting of August 1969. He says, for instance, that the 1971 internment raids were not extended to loyalists because of unionist pressure. Actually, this was on legal advice that such a measure could not be used against a force that did not threaten the state – the same logic by which the Irish government refused to intern IRA members at the same time. READ MORE Trigg is happy to describe the period of violence as a war, accepting terminology favoured by the IRA themselves. He writes of IRA activists in a tone bordering on admiration, apparently as one soldier respecting others. [ A former British army officer and author on former IRA members opening up to him: 'Trust is a huge issue' Opens in new window ] That will grate with some who will prefer a more moralistic approach and will not like to read of murders being described as 'successes'. Trigg is a military historian. His strengths are in understanding military culture and warfare. It is almost endearing how he admits to occasional failings in his research. One IRA man refuses to tell him what he was jailed for and he leaves it at that, when another researcher might have gone into the newspaper archives and found out. He misses some important nuances. In a chapter about the south Derry IRA centred around Bellaghy, he attributes the reduced level of republican militancy in the area to the presence of the literary centre Seamus Heaney HomePlace, and the 'thousands of tourists wandering around with their camera phones'. Clearly he hasn't been to Bellaghy lately. However, he has secured the candour of several former Provos and soldiers, and this factor provides an understanding of their actions and their thinking that earns the book a place on the shelves of any serious future researchers or writers on the period. One amusing detail is that the British army developed a remote control camera system for monitoring suspects but had to scrap it because those suspects would hear the click and the whirr of the film winder. That wouldn't be a problem with the technology of today.
Business Post
3 hours ago
- Business Post
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