Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The vast majority of constituents who come through my office door do so for help or advice on housing. Increasingly, families and individuals are facing eviction. One man in his 40s who recently lost both his mother and his brother, and whose only remaining family is his son, is being evicted. He is on the housing list but there are not enough one- or two-bedroom houses to accommodate him. He is on one wage and there is no possibility of him being able to rent in the private sector. His son currently stays with him at weekends. If he cannot source alternative accommodation, that will no longer be an option.

A young mother with two children who is facing eviction has had to move back in with her mother and is now sleeping on the sitting room floor with her two children. She works a few days a week. She receives the working family payment and that puts her over the threshold for social housing. She is now contemplating giving up her few days of work even though she does not want to. She is not alone in that choice. A great number of families are choosing to give up work, not to take on extra hours, or to give up a payment to which they are entitled in order that they will actually qualify for the social housing list because they cannot afford to rent in the private sector without some sort of housing support. Even with those housing supports, it is very difficult.

In my constituency, emergency accommodation consists of bed and breakfast accommodation. In counties Cavan and Monaghan, someone facing homelessness will be put up in bed and breakfast accommodation, which is not appropriate in the long term and is certainly not appropriate for children. I commend the staff in the housing sections of both councils because they do everything in their power to prevent people becoming homeless but there is only so much they can do when there is a severe shortage of houses.

It is very disappointing that the Government is opposing this Bill. It is soul destroying for those who are homeless and for those facing eviction. I very much think it is past time that the Government stepped up and addressed what is a very serious housing crisis. A no-fault eviction ban would allow some time for housing to become available. It will not restrict the number of houses available; it will do the opposite if it is used appropriately.

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