Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also listened to the Minister and he spent ten minutes doing what he accused Sinn Féin of doing when he said we were playing politics. I listened to the debate. We have put on the Dáil record the reality for people with eviction notices and what they are facing. They are not a cohort of people the Minister has spoken to or about, in relation to this contribution. In fact, he spent most of his contribution criticising Sinn Féin, which is playing politics, precisely what we have not done. We have brought the voices of people facing eviction, many of them families with children, to the Dáil. That is the right thing to do. We also laid out the facts, which cannot be disputed. Rents are up. House prices are up. Homelessness is up. The Government is not meeting its targets. The Minister spoke about 5,000 or 6,000 social homes, which is a drop in the ocean compared to what is required. My county, Roscommon, had the second-largest increase in rents last year, which is unheard of. The average rent in County Roscommon is now more than €1,000 a month. The situation in Galway is dire. There are no properties to rent in most of the main towns, of which Ballinasloe is a prime example. Not one single rental property is available in Ballinasloe. There is a waiting list for emergency accommodation. In the Minister's ten minutes, he did not answer the question of where are these people going to go. If I lived in Ballinasloe and I received an eviction notice, I would not be able to get emergency accommodation because there is a waiting list. There is nowhere to rent. Where would I go? The Minister has not answered that question. That is the problem. Local authority stock is not there. There is nowhere to rent and there is nowhere to go.

I met a lone parent in my office this morning who is living in her mother's sitting room with her three-year-old son. Many more will join her in similar situations on Saturday and from Saturday on, living in overcrowded accommodation, putting huge pressure and stress on families and literally robbing children of their childhoods. That is another thing the Minister did not speak about. Children's lives are being absolutely destroyed by this Government and the Minister is sitting there, going ahead, despite knowing exactly what this is going to do to people across the State. It is a great shame and it is going to lead to heartbreak and misery for families across this State.

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