Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I will start by countering the disgusting attempt by some on the far right to divide and rule and to try to blame the housing crisis on refugees from Ukraine or elsewhere. The Minister shook his head when it was mentioned a moment ago and indicated he did not say what he is reported as having said. He should clarify his comments because what seemed to be said on the radio was that a serious cause of the increase in homelessness is that people were coming from EEA and non-EEA countries and immediately going on the homeless list, as opposed to the very obvious reason for the explosion in homelessness that is the ending of the eviction ban. One can trace the increase in the numbers of homeless people from the end of the eviction ban.

The real people responsible for the housing crisis are Irish landlords, developers, US and European vulture funds and the real estate investment trusts, REITs. We need to fight for emergency action to provide decent housing for all. A month ago I raised with the Taoiseach the case of more than 20 families in the Shannon Arms in Limerick facing eviction by a consortium of landlords that included Supermac's millionaire Mr. Pat McDonagh. We now know that these tenants include a family from Ukraine that has been living in Ireland for the past number of years, as well as a family from Syria. The far right wants to sow division and have neighbour blame neighbour, but the only people who benefit from this are the millionaire slumlords such as Mr. Pat McDonagh. What we actually need is to build solidarity among neighbours and all working-class people to stand up to the landlords and refuse to be bullied out of their homes. Some people have already been kicked out and are homeless. Others face eviction in a matter of weeks. However, the tenants are now organised and are resisting these evictions. Mr. Pat McDonagh is masking his evictions as renovations and is doubling up the occupancy of apartments and reintroducing tenements to squeeze more money from them. Scandalously, if Mr. McDonagh succeeds in making them homeless, some of these tenants could end up being put up by the State in the local hotel that he owns.

Last month, the Taoiseach appealed to the landlords not to evict the families. The landlords have not listened. I appeal to the Minister and the Taoiseach to take action and not to speak any more empty words. I ask them to bring the Shannon Arms into public ownership in order that the tenants can be protected and it can be used to house others in need and to invest in it to improve conditions and strengthen the community there.

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