Sinn Féin and Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has challenged Fine Gael TD Colm Brophy Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart and Minister Katherine Zappone for their wholly inadequate response to the rents crisis facing many families throughout the constituency and the country.

The South West Dublin TD said that every week people were coming to his Constituency Office in Tallaght with eviction notices because they could not afford their landlord’s rent increases. Many families are now facing the reality of Christmas without a roof over their heads because they simply cannot afford to keep up the rent payments.

Deputy Crowe said:

“This is the third time that Sinn Féin has brought the issue of rent certainty to a vote in the Dáil and the third time that the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and their cosy consensus have voted it down.

“The ‘Secure Rents and Tenancies Bill 2016’ brought forward by my colleague Eoin Ó Broin TD is a straightforward piece of legislation.

“It would mean that any review of rent shall not be greater than the level of inflation as indicated in the Consumer Price Index.

“This would remove huge continual increases that many tenants face and would help bring some certainty and security to their lives.

“Just last month, the UN Special Rapporteur on Child Protection stated that Ireland was in breach of international law by placing children in unsuitable emergency accommodation and stated that Ireland must address it as a matter of urgency.

“Although this Bill would not help those already homeless, it could help keep many families in their homes with a roof over their heads as they face into Christmas.

“It would give tenants a sense of some certainty as to where they will be living in a year’s time.

“Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Enda-pendents , including Dublin South TDS – Minister Katherine Zappone TD, Colm Brophy TD and John Lahart TD have decided to vote against the Bill.

“This is hugely disappointing to the many struggling families who are trapped in this awful broken system of rent uncertainty.
Surely the onus is now on those TDS and the Minister to put forward their solutions, their own approach to tackling this rental crisis. Even the most naive must accept that the current response of doing nothing or trying push the issue down the road will not work in this rental crisis.”