TD tells Dáil of family’s fear as special needs children face eviction next week

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

A TD has told the Dáil how the parents of two children with special needs “burst into tears with fear” at the prospect of having to live in emergency accommodation following an eviction.

Richard Boyd Barret spoke about a young couple from his constituency, Shannon and Michael, who he said will lose their rental home next week “through no fault of their own”.

The People Before Profit leader raised the family’s plight during Leaders Questions on Thursday, a session which was dominated by the housing crisis.

On Wednesday night, the Residential Tenancies Bill was narrowly passed by the Dáil – with opposition parties accusing the Government of “ramming it through”.

Describing the situation the couple, who are in their 20s, now find themselves in, Mr Boyd Barrett said they have spent nine years on a council waiting list with “no prospect of a house”.

He added that while they are eligible for a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) of €1,912, he said the “cheapest rent today, in South Dublin, is €3,100 for the bed size that they need”.

He said: “Their vulnerable children with special needs are now facing the prospect of going into a hostel – and Shannon was breaking down in tears in front of me with her partner, saying ‘my kids cannot go into that situation’.”

Speaking on behalf of the Government, Simon Harris responded: “I say Michael and Shannon, I say to all people across the country in need of housing, that every action we take is to increase the number of homes that are available to rent or buy in this country.”

He said he “did take the point” about the HAP limits and said, “there is a commitment in the housing plan that will be concluded in the first half of this year”.

The Tánaiste added the new legislation is “explicitly designed to also help retain landlords, while approving tenant security.

“We have to do both,” he said.

He quoted Dr Michael Byrne, of UCD’s School of Social Policy, saying: “He specifically said, what is being missed in the current discussion, is that this new legislation is designed, once established to reduce the level of notice and terminations.”