Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

All those statistics are cold comfort to Amy and her husband, who were in my office this week. Amy is out of work on illness benefit at the moment and her husband is a bus driver. Their net income after tax is €48,000. They are facing homelessness because of an eviction on grounds of sale. The only accommodation available costs €3,000 in rent per month. Because they are over the social housing income threshold, they are not entitled to social housing. If they end up homeless, they will not even be able to get HAP. In order to pay a rent of €3,000 per month, which is all that is available, they will have to spend 75% of their income on rent, which is impossible. What does the Tánaiste have to say to Amy and her husband, a bus driver, who are facing the prospect of homelessness? I think they will say that they need to be out on the streets next Tuesday on the Raise the Roof demonstration along with many others. What does the Tánaiste have to say to Niamh and Anthony and their children, who spent their second Christmas in a homeless hub in my area? I could go on through the list.

The Government's reliance on private developers and speculators to deliver affordable housing is failing. The rents and house prices are going up and the Government still wants to throw money at them. What we need are controls on rents and house prices and for the State to deliver social and affordable housing at scale.

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