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

The eviction ban does not extend to emergency accommodation; it should. I recently came across a case which shows why. It involves a woman who is in emergency accommodation in Cork city. She attempted to get a diagnosis of autism through the State. She is in that process, which is very slow, and she does not have the finance to go private. She clearly feels herself that she has autism but she has refused accommodation offers on the grounds that the are not suitable for her with her condition. However, the accommodation placement service does not accept what she says. It says she does not have an official diagnosis. She has received a notice to quit, having refused properties that would not be good for her health. This is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and a housing emergency and in the weeks running up to Christmas. I understand the Taoiseach spoke to her briefly at the weekend. I am asking him to accept there is a serious case here in both the particular and the general. Is he prepared to look into it in the particular and the general as a matter of some urgency?

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