Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

While the Taoiseach continues to put his head in the sand and washes his hands like a Pontius Pilate act, many of the people I am talking about will end up on the streets, as Focus Ireland said this morning. It is certain that families evicted from their homes will end up on the huge local authority housing waiting lists. Some 110,000 families are already on those lists and more will join the end of that queue. It is also certain that they will be entitled to rent supplement at a significant cost to the State.

The mortgage to rent scheme would allow these families to stay in their homes on a rental basis and also give them an option of repurchasing in future if their financial circumstances improve. Surely that scheme would be both socially and financially beneficial to families, the State and even to the banks. However, even though we bailed out the banks they are resisting this scheme. The Government seems to have abandoned the scheme. There have only been 60 approvals in that scheme since it was introduced.

Will the Taoiseach personally intervene with the banks to ensure that they fully operate the mortgage to rent scheme? That would give some hope to the 30,000 families involved who are facing eviction. This is a huge problem.

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