Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the time the RAS was introduced, a commitment was given that people would be housed and the lease would roll over, or they would get a local authority house. It seems that commitment was never lived up to. What has happened is that many who availed of accommodation under RAS have ended up homeless, which is absolutely scandalous. They are left sitting in no-man's-land. I understand that the agreement at the time was that people who availed of RAS would be taken off the housing list from 2011. People who had been on the housing list for ten years or more now find that they must go back and start all over again. That does not make sense. There must be a provision to prioritise the people who availed of RAS. It needs to be made clear that people who availed of RAS were told that they would have permanent accommodation but now they find that is not the case. I do not think that is acceptable.