Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There seems to be a lot of leaking going on in the Dáil today but I will ask my question in any case. I asked the Taoiseach yesterday about the case of, say, a woman who is faced with a choice this winter of heating, eating or paying full rent, and who decides to put the interests of her children first, ahead of the interests of her landlord, and to pay some but not all of the rent. I asked could an eviction be processed under the proposed legislation in such a case. The Taoiseach did not provide an answer. I want to make it clear that the legislation needs to include an inability to pay clause that speaks to circumstances such as this and guarantees that the Residential Tenancies Board will not entertain cases such as this and that it is open and shut, and landlords cannot evict on those grounds.

In conclusion, the Government walked itself into a massive contradiction yesterday, supporting a ban on evictions but not supporting a ban on disconnections, at least not an across-the-board one that will include pay-as-you-go customers. The Minister is meeting the providers at the moment. When is the Taoiseach going to tell us the outcome of these talks and give assurances to the pay-as-you-go customers?

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