Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The ending of the eviction ban is being felt by working families throughout the State and particularly in my home town of Limerick. I am dealing with one such family who are good and hard-working. They have an eight-year-old boy and six-year-old girl and they received their notice to quit on 6 April. The family had been happily renting this home for ten years and had a good relationship with their landlord, with whom they discussed purchasing the home through their own means. Unfortunately, circumstances changed and the marital relationship ended. The mother has applied to go on the social housing list in the hope Limerick City and County Council will purchase the home. She is overholding as she has nowhere to go. She sought to have the council speed up her housing application but it cannot because it is short-staffed. Despite being a working mother of two, she cannot afford to privately rent and faces eviction and the stress this brings. Her children ask her why she has become so sad. We know why, but her kids do not. She has been burdened with this pressure because the Government's decision to end the eviction ban means families face the imminent prospect of living in a hotel, or worse. What is the Taoiseach's plan for this woman and her children? Where is she supposed to go?

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