Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In County Meath, we are living with a 12.5% increase in annual rents. Average standardised monthly rents are €1,501 but there is huge variation across the county. Today on Daft.ie, there are no one-bedroom properties in Ashbourne, Ratoath, Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne and surrounding areas. Two-bedroom properties rent at €1,850 in Ashbourne, €2,000 in Ashbourne, €1,800 in Dunsany and €2,100 in Dunboyne. For three-bedroom properties, it is €2,500 in Ashbourne, €2,700 in Dunboyne, €2,500 in Dunshaughlin and €2,300 in Ashbourne. People cannot afford these rents. Similarly, the Minister’s supports for people buying new homes are failing miserably. They drive up the price of homes. His affordable homes scheme is paltry and, even more importantly, not affordable. Meath County Council said as much when defending its decision to propose a new social development in Ashbourne without a single affordable unit. The prices are too high, in its words. The scheme does not work, in my words. HAP rates come nowhere near making rents affordable. That is if you can get a landlord to take you on HAP.

On the Minister’s plans to prevent homelessness after he cruelly lifted the eviction ban, there are many barriers to the tenant in situscheme and even more to the cost rental tenantin situ scheme. His plans on first refusal are confused to the point of being rubbish. This has a real impact. Today I spoke to a lady who, along with her partner and young son, is two weeks away from a second Christmas in emergency accommodation. The lady has a disability and considerable medical needs. HAP is the only option on paper but in practice there are no HAP properties available. There is no way out of emergency accommodation for this family. This accounts for just one of the more than 100 children who will be homeless in County Meath this Christmas, and more than 4,000 across the State. Shamefully, these figures continue to increase. If they included those sofa surfing or inadequately housed, they would be far higher.

My colleagues in Sinn Féin and I will hold a protest and sleep-out next Monday to raise funds for SVP. It is a damning indictment of Government policy. This situation arises as a direct result of Government policy.

I welcome the fact that the Government is not opposing the legislation but it is not enough not to oppose it; it must be enacted. Anything else is political manoeuvring of the highest order. The Minister needs to act on it now.

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