Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have just come out of level 5 restrictions, and people have been under the misimpression that they do not have to pay rent. I have been told by MABS that in the past two to three weeks, there has been an increase in the number of people contacting it, because of the misinterpretation of the information issued to tenants in respect of a rent freeze. Now that we have moved to level 3 restrictions and people are going back to work, they have realised that they have made a mistake and they have a problem. MABS has told me - and I have found the same in my office - that it is getting three or four cases a week, when it was previously getting one, so the pressure is starting to build up. I am sure Mr. Lemass's statistics are correct, but I am talking about the here and now, and I know that people are contacting MABS more frequently. There are people who are only now realising that they are in difficulty.