Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This week a primary school teacher told me about an incredibly upsetting incident in their classroom where they asked the children to draw out their house and mark the name of the rooms as Gaeilge and one child got very upset and whispered to their teacher that they could not do the exercise because they did not have a home. That is one of the 4,316 children who are homeless. The damage that is being caused as a result of this will be lifelong. The upset, the stress, the lack of proper nutrition, the cramped and unsuitable accommodation, the noise, the inability to have friends come over to play, the lack of security and the lack of a home is causing major trauma and one would swear from the Tánaiste's reply that there was not a 63% increase in child homelessness since this Government took office. Where is the urgency? With that backdrop and that context, the Tánaiste dismisses the desperate need for a ban on not-fault evictions without being able to explain why Ireland is so different to every other country in Europe. It is outrageous.

The Tánaiste says banning evictions for people who pay this rent would cause chaos or make the situation worse. Can the Tánaiste explain how it is the norm across Europe and Ireland is somehow different?

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