Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understood I was to speak. In Donegal, 7,700 properties are lying vacant while 2,646 families are on the housing list in the county. There is no doubt that there is a direct link between dereliction and the current housing crisis. There is also no doubt that the whole us-versus-them narrative is one that has been fuelled by this Government unfortunately. For this, it should be ashamed. There is no reason we cannot house all those on the housing list in Donegal, displaced refugees and all those affected by the mica crisis, who are required to live elsewhere while their houses are being rebuilt. I have been saying this for a while now but we need to figure out what we are going to do about the many families who will be displaced due to mica. As time ticks on and the redress scheme is put in place, I am anxious that hundreds of families in Donegal will be displaced over the coming years. I have been contacted by one family with a seven-year-old child with a disability. They say:

I am sure you are aware of the shortage of rental properties in our country, never mind our county. The possibility of us finding a rental property with wheelchair accessibility is going to be non-existent and a mobile home is going to be completely out of the question for us in our situation. Our existing home may not be in great shape but is accessible for our son [at the moment]. We are a young normal family from Donegal that seem to be stuck in this unfortunate situation like so many others.

Unfortunately, this is only one of many mica families who have contacted me regarding their anxiety about finding rental accommodation while dealing with the mica crisis during a housing crisis and a cost-of-living crisis. The Government is literally forcing people to endure crisis after crisis and doing absolutely nothing to help them. This issue will only continue to get worse. The Government needs to pull the finger out and put a plan in place. I know of many people in Donegal who have offered their accommodation to Ukrainian refugees and were refused. Is there no way we could set up a system to allow these people to offer their accommodation to mica families who need temporary accommodation while their houses are rebuilt? We have shown that these systems can be put in place. Why then are we not using them to help Donegal families? What is the Government going to do to address the rental crisis faced by displaced mica families in Donegal?

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