Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is highly likely that the homeless numbers will reach 11,000 before winter is out. I urge the Minister to reconsider his opposition to a temporary ban on evictions. Such a ban was recently introduced in Scotland. I ask him to go further in the context of tenants in situ. Some local authorities are not taking his advice. In fact, some local authorities are insisting that people must be on the housing list for six, eight, nine or ten years before being considered for the tenants in situscheme. I urge the Minister to issue a circular to say that where a household is imminently at risk of homelessness that the local authority must purchase the property.

There was nothing at all in the budget in terms of new homeless interventions to stop the immediate rise. Will the Minister do more with regard to tenants in situ and consider the introduction of an emergency ban on the eviction of people into homelessness over the winter?

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