The Workplace Relations Commission found that Keenan Property Management discriminated against Robert O'Gara by refusing to consider his rental application because he received Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The WRC awarded him €1,500 and dated its decision 5 April 2023.
O'Gara, then a HAP tenant whose existing home was being sold, applied for a property in Dublin 7 in April 2021. The agency said the landlord lacked paperwork needed to rent to HAP tenants and that the landlord had made the decision. The WRC found the agency provided accommodation services and that the landlord had time to address the paperwork issue after a tenancy began.
The WRC found the agency refused to consider O'Gara's application solely because he received housing assistance. Its decision said the prohibited conduct continued for two months, until he had secured another rental property in Ranelagh. It ordered €1,500 compensation for the effects of the discrimination.