Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for tabling the motion. There are 17 properties to rent in County Tipperary on daft.ie. Emergency accommodation is regularly full in that county when we inquire about it. Some 68% of people in their late 20s still live at home because Ireland's housing market is in crisis. Those are just some of the figures that form the backdrop to what we are dealing with. All that is happening right now and not in the distant past. It is not something this Government can claim to have rectified because it has not, nor has it even made an attempt to. There has been a 21% increase in notices to quit in Tipperary in the second quarter of this year. These are the challenges facing people whose Government thinks it is a worthwhile sacrifice to consign people to emergency accommodation rather than implement a no-fault eviction ban as part of the emergency response to reduce the number of people falling into homelessness. The Taoiseach himself voiced this opinion.

While the Government did not oppose the Eviction Ban Bill when it was debated on 22 February, it only refrained from doing so because the Minister of State did not have his eye on the ball that night. In the weeks and months since, the Government has allowed this Bill to languish unaddressed, while the Minister of State's party and Government colleagues have continued to prevent any backbench Bills that have passed Second Stage from progressing to Committee Stage. All the while, a steady stream of concerned constituents contacted every one of us in this Chamber as the number of notices to quit mounted up. This is the reality of the situation for people, yet this is how the Government treats them. The Minister of State will hide behind the steady stream of figures when he is confronted with them by the Opposition. However, the fact remains that the Government's affordable housing record is dreadful. Social housing provision is at a snail's pace, homelessness is at record levels, and children are living in emergency accommodation. That is Ireland 2023 under the Government's watch.

We need this Government gone because it is only making matters worse for people. It had its opportunity and it failed the people of Ireland. Next week, Sinn Féin will outline its ambitious plan for delivering 20,000 homes a year. We make no apologies for the fact that we support the reintroduction of the ban on no-fault evictions as part of an emergency response to reduce the number of people becoming homeless. The Government has done untold damage. Only a change of government, a change of housing Minister and a new housing plan will allow us to undo decades of bad Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy.

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