Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleague, Senator Flynn, I will talk about the end of the eviction ban. Tonight's vote looms large over proceedings here in Leinster House and for renters all over Ireland, it represents fear, anxiety, uncertainty and doubt. As Fr. Peter McVerry has said, the end of the ban will unleash a wave of misery onto ordinary people. Tenants who are diligent and conscientious and who make big sacrifices to pay crushingly high rents, will be evicted into homelessness because landlords want to maximise the returns on their property investment. Those tenants will be evicted into homelessness because the Government has totally failed to take action on housing on a scale that reflects the extent of this crisis. The Government has refused to effectively regulate short-term rentals, which prioritise profiteering and tourism over meeting housing needs. The Government has refused to invest ambitiously in restoring and expanding Ireland's much diminished local authority housing stock. Policies such as cost rental are positive but they are not being rolled out nearly quickly enough. Years of successive failures, which implicate all the parties of Government, have brought us to the precipice. The Government's counter-motion in the Dáil runs to 2,474 words. It is a long-winded, cynical and exhausted attempt to justify the unjustifiable. It contains some minor tweaks that utterly fail to reflect the gravity of this crisis. I know that members of the Government parties and certain Independents are likely wrestling with their consciences ahead of the vote tonight. To them, I would like to say that elections, careers and governments come and go but the decisions we make are ours alone. Doing the right thing is much more important than a party Whip or ministerial title. Will Members be able to look their newly homeless constituents in the eyes if they allow the ban to expire? I would like this House to have a debate about the end of the eviction ban in order that Members have the opportunity to put their views on the record.