Government need to outline what protections they will put in place for people who are evicted or else face a winter of evictions and infections
Speaking after nine tenants were evicted from a house in North Dublin, with a number of men repossessing and boarding up the property, Labour Housing Spokesperson Senator Rebecca Moynihan has said that we are facing into a winter of evictions and infections unless the Government act to increase security for tenants.
Senator Moynihan said:
“We warned the Government and Minister O’Brien that this would happen when they passed the Residential Tenancies Bill a number of weeks ago. The property in question was sold and the tenants were unceremoniously turfed out onto the street.
“The Government need to outline what supports they are going to put in place for people who have been evicted, as we are still in the middle of a pandemic and cases are on the rise. A winter of evictions and infections awaits us if we don’t put in place plans now to support people who have been evicted”.
The Minister should make it a priority to beef up the Residential Tenancies Board to allow them to carry out inspections and protect renters at risk of eviction, and take action against landlords who may illegally evict tenants.
“I am really concerned following yesterday’s events that we are facing into a winter of evictions and a new wave of homelessness as a result. Covid-19 has not gone away and it is unacceptable to evict people onto the street in the middle of a pandemic. We warned this would happen and it is the most vulnerable people who will be most at risk.