Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the Minister acutely and nobody would think that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in power for the last 100 years. I remind him that Sinn Féin has never been in government in the South of this island. To start blaming Sinn Féin and saying it is Sinn Féin's fault where the Government is going, or not going, with housing is ridiculous, which most people recognise. The only way I can make sense of this decision is to believe the Government and all of the Government TDs do not understand the damage and harm they are about to do. They do not realise the strength and depth of feeling on this issue. In my county, Mayo, the birthplace of Michael Davitt, the word "eviction" causes a deep and visceral reaction. People will remember this for a very long time, even this Minister's own people. I have spoken to Fianna Fáil activists on the ground, people who have supported Fianna Fáil for years. They do not expect anything different from Fine Gael, but they do expect something different from Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil members, particularly older members who were around when homes were built in the poorest of times in the 1960s and 1970s, cannot believe how it has abandoned them. I spoke to one such man yesterday in his 70s who is a retired civil servant. He worked all his life, paid all his taxes and this is how the Government treats him. His landlord will not renew his lease and he is left in a precarious situation in his 70s. He cannot be considered for a mortgage or anything else. He told me he feels trapped and full of fear because of what the Government is doing to him.

I have been dealing with another woman who works in Westport. She was issued with a notice to quit on New Year's Eve after living in the same home for ten years. Since then, she has been desperately looking for somewhere to live for her and her daughter. She needs to be in Westport for work and so her daughter can go to the childminder. She said that she has viewed many properties but has not been successful. She is at her wit's end and the end of her tether. She does not know what else she can do. As it stands, at the end of the month, she and her daughter could be homeless. The prospect really scares her. While we were in the middle of a pandemic and most people were at home safe from the virus, she was out working every day, risking bringing Covid-19 back to her daughter. She contacted Mayo County Council and the only thing it can do is give that woman a voucher for bed and breakfast accommodation. When the Minister stands up and says there is this, that and the other in place, what you get is a voucher for bed and breakfast accommodation you cannot even stay in during the day.

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