Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I found the Taoiseach's answer to my previous question rather evasive. I will frame the question again. It is not just about the individual case; it is about how that case epitomises the failure of the Government to understand what is going on or its wilful denial of what is going on. What is not particularly specific to this case is that there is somebody trapped in homeless accommodation. Somebody who gets up every day to work has been in homeless accommodation for four years. Does that not in and of itself make the Taoiseach think there is something wrong here? How could somebody be in homeless accommodation for four years? This is a person who gets up to work every morning. It is not due to a lack of energy or drive on their part. There is something wrong with the policy that allows that to happen. I heard the Taoiseach say the majority of people who are evicted will probably not end up homeless. I do not know how he can make that assertion when, in the biggest residential development in the State where the Government could help solve the housing crisis in south Dublin, the new apartments are being advertised at monthly rents of €2,600. How is any average worker on an average income supposed to afford that? If the woman I mentioned is eligible for the housing assistance payment, HAP, which for a while she was not, she would not be allowed to rent one of those apartments and if she is not eligible for HAP, she has no chance of being able to rent one. She is in a trap. Does the Taoiseach understand the point?

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