Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is an area where reform is long overdue. The country has had a long history of landlordism and evictions, and to put it mildly, there have been and still are many unsavoury characters involved.

Just yesterday I received a call from a constituent who had been given four months' notice of eviction in January in the middle of level 5 restrictions. Her landlord was at the door with "three burly chaps" as she described them, looking to remove her from her home. Needless to say he got short shrift. Imagine sitting in your house and seeing them coming up your driveway. What do you tell the children?

The Government has no concept of the consequences of its actions. I often say it is easy to know that nobody belonging them has to experience anything like this. Nobody belonging to them has to apply to be on a housing list either, certainly not in Kildare where it takes three months to be processed and with almost 7,000 people on this list with a ten to 12-year waiting period God help us if you are single. It is a landlord's paradise and it is no wonder they rock up with private security in tow.

The solution to this is a common-sense one. Build public housing on public land and put a stop to private security companies turning up at the doors of our most vulnerable. If someone is to be evicted, there are proper channels in place to do so and this is not one of them. There needs to be stronger protection for the family home in the Constitution. The Government is always harping on about property rights for landlords but what about everybody else? Reform is needed and if we need to change what happened to that lady I mentioned, we cannot allow this behaviour and the fear that these companies bring with them.

See this speech in context