Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise again the issue of evictions and the urgent necessity for a ban on rent increases. I am sure all of us, as elected representatives, are very well aware of the kinds of pressures people are under in our communities. There is a very particular burden and pressure on those in the rental sector. Thousands of workers are now without employment. The reality for many people in Dublin, for example, is that they lost their shirt overnight. Whereas their household income has fallen, rents continue to rise, albeit now at a lower rate than before. Renters need the assurance that they will not be evicted and that the roof over their head is secure in these very uncertain times. We have fared better than some of our European neighbours in this crisis but the fall in Ireland's GDP is the sharpest on record. The Taoiseach will know that in terms of job losses, we come second only to Spain in the second quarter of this year. A terrifying prospect of unemployment rates of eye-watering proportions is before us.

The Taoiseach told us originally that the Government's argument for lifting the ban on evictions and rent increases was that the economy was opening up and the crisis was receding. That is clearly and manifestly not the case. The situation in Dublin is the most immediate evidence of that as it has moved to level 3 plus in terms of restrictions. There is the real possibility that many other counties could join the capital in the near future. The Taoiseach argued that he could not justify constitutionally a ban on evictions or rent increases because of the opening up of the economy and because the crisis had receded. The crisis has not gone anywhere and the Taoiseach's argument is a very flimsy and unacceptable excuse for not protecting people who rent from the prospect of eviction or a rent hike.

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