Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government's housing policy is wreaking havoc on renters in north Kildare. The Dad of one family who now works in the private sector was a member of our Defence Forces. He tells me he feels totally undefended by this Government. Following a notice to quit, he feels that he is in no-man's land, abandoned by the State of the uniform he wore. His wife works in homeless services. After they both took on every scrap of overtime they could to make rent after an illegal 50% rent hike, their income is over the limit for the housing list. Their landlord is not selling. He says he intends to move into the house, which is one of several he owns, so they cannot avail of any of the Government's eleventh hour schemes. They are currently overholding as they have nowhere to go. I ask the Taoiseach to put himself in that man's position. Can he imagine the stress that family is living through? On all the evidence, the Government is failing. It is completely indifferent to the humanitarian disaster its housing policy has caused. Does he agree that the no-fault eviction ban must be reinstated or does he want trauma and hopelessness to be the legacy of his Government?

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