Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne has said that today’s news of retirement village evictions serves as a reminder that this government has “no shame.”
He said news of a Sligo retirement village being issued with an eviction notice makes the Taoiseach’s claims of his government having a “social conscience” ring hollow, with Hearne asking, “where is it now?”
The Dublin North-West TD said it is “unconscionable that sick, elderly and disabled people in a retirement village in Sligo have been issued eviction notices, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.
In November, the tenants of six of the houses in Sonas Retirement Village in Enniscrone were told by their landlord, Nasso BK Holdings Ltd, that they would have to vacate the properties by June 5th.
“The notices to quit followed the announcement of the government’s rental changes which came into force on March 1st, allowing landlords to reset rents to market rate between tenancies, a move which has provided an incentive for landlords to evict tenants who were in situ before the law changed.
“These measures were announced on November 4th – the announcement resulted in massive instability in the rental market, increasing economic evictions in the run up to March,” Hearne noted.
“Yesterday’s report from the Residential Tenancies Board that eviction notices have jumped by 41% came as no surprise – I’ve been raising this inevitability with the Minister for Housing for months now, but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”
Hearne said “today’s news of retirement village evictions serve as a reminder that this government has no shame – where is the social conscience the Taoiseach claims his government has now?”
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are outright ignoring the plight of the highest number of evictions since the famine,” he said.
“Only emergency intervention, namely a no-fault eviction ban for all existing tenancies, can turn around this dystopian state of affairs. The Social Democrats have been advocating for as much throughout the housing crisis.”
“The Minister for Housing is reclining in last chance saloon when it comes to his ability to get this emergency under control. Minister Browne must urgently show that he and his government are capable of making effective decisions, or pass the baton to someone who can,” Hearne stated.