Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

3 o’clock

The Taoiseach will be aware that there is a special emergency meeting of Cork City Council tonight to discuss the closing-off of the tenant in situ scheme. It is a scheme that allows people who are on the housing list and are facing eviction to be housed by the council with the council buying the property. The tenant in situ scheme prevented 100 children from becoming homeless last year in Cork city alone. It is a no-brainer of a scheme. It is to the benefit of landlords who wish to sell, to the council and, most of all, to the tenants who are potentially facing eviction getting their forever home. The decision to close off this scheme is cruel and short-sighted. Will the Taoiseach give the commitment that he will listen to the voices of the representatives of the people of Cork with regard to tonight's Cork City Council meeting? Most of all, will he give the commitment to listen to those tenants who are potentially facing homelessness, some of whom had proceeded quite a distance in progressing this scheme, only to see the trapdoor close it off? Will the Taoiseach commit to restoring funding and reopening the tenant in situ scheme for these families?

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