Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Táim ag filleadh arís ar chúrsaí tithíochta - tá sé níos cirte easpa tithíochta a rá - agus go háirid an cinneadh atá déanta ag an Rialtas, agus a thiocfaidh i bhfeidhm arú amárach ar Lá na nAmadán, nach mbeidh cosaint ar bith ag tionóntaí ó thaobh díshealbhaithe de.

I return to housing. I hope the Tánaiste will deal with the issues I raise in a calm, dignified manner and without trading insults. From Saturday, April Fool’s Day, there will be no protection for tenants, who can be evicted on a no-fault basis. The Tánaiste did not come into the Dáil and tell us why that is being done or what analysis had been done. He did not come in proactively and ask for our co-operation, for reasons set out. His Government reacted and made it up as it went along.

I say that consciously because today I am looking at the 29th Simon report. I have used it often in here. It came out today. It is the 29th snapshot over three days in March. It tells us there are no properties available under the housing assistance payment, HAP, in 16 or 17 areas it looked at, in particular Galway city and its suburbs. HAP payments is the Government’s big step but there are no properties available. I ask the Tánaiste to read the report because it puts it in context and tells us of the significant increases in the average rent, which have been quoted here ad nauseam:

Increases in rents have been twinned by an ongoing contraction of supply... Ireland [and this is important] has witnessed record high numbers in homelessness for seven consecutive months... While the effect of the current moratorium [which will end on April Fool's Day] is still to be fully understood, it is clear that it has prevented homelessness.

This is a cruel, heartless policy from a Government that put political expedience at the top. Rather than doing this next year or in a different way, it was done with an eye to the local and European elections, without a doubt. I and colleagues have asked repeatedly what is in place. The Taoiseach casually said to let them go to Threshold or other organisations. This morning on the radio the CEO of one of those organisations told us that since Covid it is overwhelmed and only one in three people ringing in gets answered. Has it got extra resources? It has not. It is a small NGO that the Taoiseach told people who were going to be evicted to go to. That was the answer from him. I ask the Tánaiste, as Simon and as everybody on this side of the House has asked, to see sense. As Simon said this morning, it is never too late to undo a bad decision and this particular one is bad, cruel and unacceptable.

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