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

Here is a human story of how policy failure forces children into homelessness. Amy and her husband both work. She works in a supermarket and he works for Dublin Bus. They have three children, one of whom has special needs and has, incidentally, been waiting for an assessment for months and months. They are about to be evicted on 24 June through no fault of their own because the property is being sold, the tenant in situ scheme is not an option, and they are currently living in a HAP tenancy. If they go into emergency accommodation, they will no longer get HAP because they will be over the threshold. People in HAP tenancies are allowed to go over the threshold, just like those in social housing are allowed to go over the threshold. If people end up homeless, though, it is not possible to get HAP and they are trapped. Amy is saying now that she is going to have to give up her job. Our policy failures are literally driving people and their children into homelessness. I have raised this matter with the Taoiseach before. For Amy, it is very urgent. These anomalies must be addressed. Will the Taoiseach do so as a matter of urgency?

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