Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When it comes to the housing crisis, the issue is devastating in all areas of the country. In rural Ireland, as my colleagues have said, it is the same. In my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim, this is a crisis for many families, particularly those in rural areas. I spoke to people in the housing department in recent days. While the guidelines on what to do are clearer now than they were two weeks ago, that has come very late in the day. We have people with notices to quit their properties and the local authority is trying to deal with that as fast as it can. In many cases, it is not doing so quick enough because these guidelines were very late coming to the table. As my colleagues have said, guidelines do not provide housing for people. We need a means to provide housing. Many people with notices to quit are living in rural housing in rural areas and local authorities, notwithstanding all the guidelines they have, are saying they are not interested in buying those houses. Where are those people to go? That is one of the main issues.

We also have issues where, for example, a family with two children living in a three-bedroom house are being told they are over-housed in a house of that size. There are all kinds of problems in that regard. Many people have incomes that are over the €30,000 threshold. Many have a wage of between €30,000 and €40,000. They are over the threshold to get on the local authority housing list but cannot afford to buy a house. They are left in this precarious situation in rental accommodation. We need a solution for this because what we have had so far are not solutions.

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