Housing Schemes
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
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Louise O'Reilly (SF), Dublin Fingal West

I absolutely respect that the Minister of State is giving me the information she has but that information is not accurate. It does not represent a 54% increase by my figures but we can debate that another day. When people go to Fingal County Council looking for the tenant in situ scheme they are told it does not have the money. That email dated 28 April was actually a response to a query I had sent in. It said the council had responded to the landlord, which we know it had, explaining it is not in a position to accept new expressions of interest in the tenant in situ scheme accordingly. The council is not accepting expressions now. The Minister of State might say it should be or that it has the money, but that is not what the council is telling landlords.
In the middle of all this I have a mam, a dad and their son. The man, as it goes, happens to be undergoing some fairly heavy-duty cancer treatment at the moment. Their notice to quit expires in two months' time. I had to tell that woman that she, her husband and her son will have to go to emergency accommodation. I understand what is in the note the Minister of State read.
The Minister of State and I both know that in the real world there is no available private rented accommodation coming over the hill. The woman asked what the emergency accommodation was like. It is not good. I would not like to live in it and I do not think the Minister of State would like to live in it either. She cried her heart out in my office. I am the only TD in my area who has an office - I have two, in fact - and this may be part of the reason that we see more of these cases than others do. She sobbed her heart out and she said "But there must be a way surely". This woman works hard, her husband works hard, and her son. They are terrified for the future.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30