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

First, I thank my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, for bringing forward this motion and working tirelessly for renters. Deputy Ó Broin has put forward really important motions, which we implore the Government to take on board. Speaking for myself, the housing crisis in Cork has never been as bad as it is now. I am working with more than 20 families who are facing eviction from next week up to September. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for those families. People are living in fear not knowing where they and their families are going to go.

Every week now, desperate families come to me because they have nowhere to go. The Minister has responsibility for housing. He needs to provide solutions. My colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, is bringing forward solutions. That is what we need the Minister to do. Instead, my constituents are being turned away when they go looking for housing because the Minister never delivered the supply he promised. Young families come to me day in, day out.

To give the Minister an idea, I went onto daft.ietoday. There are 48 properties to rent in Cork. That includes student accommodation for more than 27,000 students between University College Cork, UCC, and Munster Technological University, MTU. Only two one-bedroom properties are available in Cork, and they are more than €1,200 per month. It also includes only one property that is under €1,200 per month to rent. That is a result of the Minister's policies and this Government putting landlords, speculators and vulture funds before ordinary people.

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