Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and thank the Deputies who brought it forward. Given that Sinn Féin tabled a motion on the matter to which it relates last night, it is a sign of the really deep concern that we all have about the ending of this eviction ban and the cliff edge that people will face. There is no doubt that the Government has lost control of the homelessness crisis. That is obvious as levels of homelessness continue to rise, despite the winter ban on evictions. In Dublin 15, it went from 40 in September to 90 in the space of four months. I expect that it is much worse now. While the Fingal County Council housing team has done huge work in trying to access accommodation for those near the top of the list, many of the families who are not near the top are in absolute fear as to what to expect in April and the deadline that looms over them. One mother who visited me at my constituency office recently is facing her third time in homelessness. She is absolutely exhausted and terrified because she knows what she is facing.

The Minister said that the aim of the emergency winter eviction ban is to afford time for the housing supply to increase and to reduce the burden on homelessness service and pressure on tenants and the residential tenancies market. Yet, nothing has changed for the vast majority of those people who are facing eviction. They have been given no hope that it will be resolved before this ban comes to an end. The reality is that homeless services are still overburdened, housing supply has not increased and the cliff edge faced by many tenants is adding huge pressure. That is why Sinn Féin tabled its motion yesterday and why we are again debating this issue today. The Labour Party also raised the issue yesterday. So many people on this side of the Chamber and on the opposite side have been talking about the eviction ban and the cliff edge that people are facing. We need to pass the kind of emergency legislation for which I have been calling for the past three or four months, to help us to get in on land that is not going to be used for social or affordable housing. There is other land that is available. We must use emergency legislation and get in modular housing for people who are facing eviction now.

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