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

The failure to spend the money allocated for housing, the exclusion of most of County Mayo from the affordable housing scheme and the callous decision to remove the eviction ban are devastating families right here, right now. Men, women and children are being directly impacted. I am working with a woman from Westport. She has three daughters and is going to be evicted next Monday, 24 April. This woman cares for her elderly father and her husband has a degenerative brain disease and is confined to a nursing home in Westport. Her daughters are in full-time education in Westport. She is studying for a part-time degree with the ambition of getting back to work full time. This family has been on the housing list for 12 years. They have waited that long and from next Monday they will have nowhere to call home, no stability and no security. These people are the victims of a system designed and delivered by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The ban on no-fault evictions was the only protection they had. Without warning, the Government pulled that out from under them. This family has now been told by Mayo County Council that they must present as homeless on Monday. Currently, there is no emergency accommodation and they do not even know if a bed and breakfast will take them. The best Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have to offer is: "but Sinn Féin, but Sinn Féin". What does the Minister have to say to this family and to all the others living in fear of homelessness? This is more than a housing crisis; it is a humanitarian emergency, right here, right now. Where will these people go?

See this speech in context