Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many people in relationship breakdown do not have the funds to engage in the separation and divorce process. Many of the families involved are at their wits end. While some people may potentially have a legal claim to a property, owing to the difficulties they have left behind all they want to do is start afresh. I will give one example from the many cases with which I have been dealing. A young mother of three children who suffered abuse in her family home applied for social housing but was refused on the grounds of owning a home. Following many applications for rent allowance she was eventually approved, only to have it withdrawn, again for the reason that she owned a home, as a result of which she amassed huge rent arrears and was forced out of the house by her landlord around Christmas time. Following reapplication by her for rent allowance, and with a great deal of pressure from my office, the rent allowance was re-approved. She then engaged in a huge trawl of accommodation in the town but could find none within the rent cap for the area. As a result she had to uproot her family from their home and her children from their schools and move to another town. The house she secured is damp and as her youngest child has asthma he cannot reside with her in the house and has to live with his granny for most of the week. The landlord has stated that he did not want to rent out the house but was forced to do so by the local authority because it is under pressure to house people. The window of the house recently fell out. This woman is in serious difficulty and is trying to find alternative accommodation.

The current rent cap for County Meath is causing major difficulties. There is no separation of areas to reflect higher rents. The people about whom I am speaking are in serious difficulty. I listened to the response by the Minister of State and accept that she recognises the problem. However, much of her response related to objectives, teams, reports, plans and so on. There are families in fiercely distraught circumstances. Not having the confidence of a roof over their heads is one of the problems which this Government needs to address.

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