Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach’s response and tone indicate the problem here. The renters listening to him now are the people who are facing the certain knowledge that from 1 April, a notice of termination will take effect, they will face eviction and there is nowhere else for them to go because there is a chronic shortage of housing across the country. We listened to the Taoiseach’s fatalistic tone suggesting there is nothing that could be done during an extended period of an eviction ban. The point is that the eviction ban was to give the Government a breathing space to put in place the necessary emergency measures to increase the supply of homes and ensure there would be a safety net for families facing the cliff edge of eviction. The Government has done nothing for the past six months and has apparently just waited to see what will happen. It is simply not good enough to take the same approach now of waiting to see what will happen when the ban is lifted without having any contingency plans or safety net in place for those families now facing homelessness who have already been served notices to quit. They are facing the human catastrophe and distress of losing their homes from 1 April. It is shameful to have taken this indefensible decision without any contingency plan.

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