Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish both the Minister and Minister of State well in their new roles. I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing this relevant and important Private Members' motion on the tenant in situ scheme to the floor of the House this evening. The tenant in situ scheme is a vital tool in the prevention of homelessness and has been a saviour to many families across the country. Since April 2023, the tenant in situ scheme alone has saved more than 2,500 households from the sickening prospect of losing a roof over their heads or being at the mercy of a system that is overwhelmed and broken due to dealing with the sheer volumes of evictions and notices of termination.

In my own county of Wexford, 52 households have benefited from this scheme since 2023-13 in the Wexford district, 14 in the Enniscorthy district, 12 in the Gorey district, 12 in the New Ross district and one in the Rosslare district. Without this scheme, those families and individuals would have ended up in hostels, in overcrowded emergency accommodation centres or granny's box room, and that is if they are lucky.

I ask that the newly proposed criteria by the Department of housing be fully re-evaluated and returned to the current rules. Under new proposals, a couple without children will be excluded. Single citizens will be excluded. A property must be at least two years in the social housing support scheme, and the housing Department is also removing the ability of councils to exceed the set targets, plus the councils will not be able to reclaim refurbishment costs. Surely these measures, to put it mildly, are downright unfair, discriminatory and restrictive in nature, disavowing a large cohort of single people and couples from a scheme that could prevent them from becoming homeless. Figures show that the highest cohort of people seeking social housing is in fact single people. To reduce any funding to local authorities and introduce restrictive access measures to the tenant in situ scheme in a time of housing emergency is bad policy, and will result in more people becoming homeless. The Department must row back and remove its new discriminatory and restrictive proposals, and increase the necessary staff to process applications in an efficient and timely manner.

Again, we see rents averaging €1,423 in my own county, and an increase in rents of 5.7% nationally year on year. I ask Deputies to note the fault lines in the Department's new proposal and to support this Sinn Féin motion.

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