Yesterday, the Taoiseach defended to the hilt the Government decision to scrap the eviction ban at the end of this month. Not alone is this a cruel decision but it shows once again that the Government is not on the side of hard-pressed renters. The Government has chosen to drop this protection for tenants in the middle of an unprecedented housing emergency. I want to emphasise that small landlords are not responsible for this crisis, the Government is. Essentially, the Government had a choice between wealthy investment funds and corporate landlords and the needs of ordinary people. True to form, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil show up for the landlords and the investment funds. The Government scrapped the eviction ban without any measures to protect renters from losing their homes. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, talk about protections for renters into the future but with no clarity at all. However, this is happening now. In the coming weeks and months, many will be hit with eviction notices. We are talking about working families - people who work very, very hard. They pay their taxes. They pay for everything. Many are trying to save for a deposit. They do all the right things to keep the show on the road and to build a decent life for themselves and their children. Yet, without a thought for them, the Government removed a protection that gave some degree of security, as the housing crisis swirls all around them. The fear, stress and insecurity that this creates for those caught in the private rental trap are enormous. Those fears and worries are compounded by a Government scrambling about with no real plan, no urgency or no ambition to tackle the housing emergency to the scale required.
Renters were already at breaking point, struggling to keep up with extortionate rents and looking at house prices that were simply beyond their reach. The Government's decision to scrap the eviction ban creates a nightmare scenario for them. What are the choices for any renter now served with an eviction notice? Do they join the long queues that wind around corners in a desperate search for one of the very few places available? Do they return to the box room of their parents' home? Do they couch surf? Many will choose to emigrate simply to escape this nightmare. The reason people are in this situation is because successive Governments have failed to deliver affordable housing to rent or buy on the scale demanded by this emergency. The Government has thrown in the towel on renters. Sinn Féin will be pushing for a Dáil vote on this matter at the earliest possible opportunity because the stakes are so high for renters everywhere.
Is gníomh místuama é an cinneadh chun an cosc ar dhíshealbhú a scriosadh. Tá sé seo déanta ag an Rialtas gan aon chosaint bhreise a thabhairt do chíosóirí. Cruthaíonn sé cásanna tubaisteacha i gcomhair go leor teaghlach agus oibrithe a d'fhéadfadh a dtithe a chailleadh sna seachtainí agus sna míonna romhainn.
My questions for the Taoiseach are as follows. What does he say to those working families who may receive an eviction notice in the coming weeks? Where are they to go? Could he please outline clearly what protections for renters the Government proposes? What are they and when will they be put in place?