Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Ten families and individuals, in the St. Helen's Court apartment complex in Dún Laoghaire, whose plight I have raised around 20 to 30 times in the past four years, received letters to tell them they will be evicted within ten days of the lifting of level 5 restrictions, or 56 days from the receipt of the letter.

I want to stress the landlord in this case is a vulture fund. The residents have always paid their rent and they are model tenants. However, because of loopholes in the Residential Tenancies Act and the fact the Covid-related ban on evictions is linked only to level 5 restrictions, these ten individuals and families will be knocking on the door of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council this week saying they are to be made homeless. They are in a building where, in the same complex, there are ten apartments that have been sitting empty for two years. The tenants are asking why they need to be evicted and why they cannot continue living there. Does the Tánaiste recognise this is fundamentally wrong and measures need to be taken to stop perfectly good tenants from being thrown out on the street?

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