Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to speak today. No one should be made homeless, especially in the middle of a pandemic. This is common sense. In years to come, people will find it difficult to believe that our housing Minister stood by and allowed evictions to happen in the middle of a global pandemic. Without proper protection for renters, there is a real chance that this will be the Minister's legacy.

I have been contacted by people who have received notices to quit - in other words, families and individuals who are being evicted. A lady who has been renting for 11 years contacted me. The house she is renting is the only home her children have known. Last week, her landlord told her to start looking for a new place to live. Where is the protection for families like this one who have been paying their way for 11 years? This goes to the heart of the problem. The Minister, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party have never understood what it feels like for parents to look at their young children and families, knowing they are facing eviction from their homes and perhaps even homelessness. With all the Government's promises and commitments to solve the rental crisis in this country, what is it doing to protect families like this? Sinn Féin wants to introduce secure tenure for families and renters. We are calling for a ban on eviction until at least the end of the year, at a minimum, to give people some kind of security and peace of mind for the coming months.

The measures in this Bill will do nothing to combat the scandalous conditions of rental properties in Cork city and nationally. What is even worse is that through the HAP scheme, State money is paid to unscrupulous landlords for houses that are unsuitable and unfit for families and individuals to live in. How is this Government allowing people to live in these conditions with mould, dampness, broken showers, broken heating and freezing cold cramped conditions? All of these issues are being raised with me in my office weekly. The Government is doing nothing and is allowing landlords to get away with this. In fact, it is worse than this. It is paying landlords to get away with this. This is shocking and disgraceful, and it is no wonder that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are called the parties of the landlords. Why is the Green Party abandoning renters and allowing Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to get away with this?

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