Here we go again. The Government comes in here and pats itself on the back for everything it is doing on housing while families face evictions and rent hikes and we have record homelessness. When Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents introduced the rent hike Bill last summer, we warned that all it would do was push more families into homelessness and - surprise, surprise - that is precisely what has happened. The Minister of State and the Government sided with institutional investors and big landlords and threw renters under the bus. Behind every one of the 7,000 eviction notices - the highest number ever recorded - are real people and families. Think of a family who have just secured a place in the local school for this September and are now scrambling to find a home in the same area, when there is nothing available. What will the Minister of State say to them? What will he say to those who have worked all their lives and are now wondering whether they will ever have a secure roof over their heads? There is nowhere for these people to go. We need an emergency ban on rent increases and no-fault evictions and that includes council tenants. The Government needs to ramp up social housing and truly affordable private homes. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had 15 years to get this right and again and again, they have let families down. All they seem to do is make the situation worse and this has to change.

Sentiment score: 0.02