Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore says she will vote to extend eviction ban

Ahead of a Dáil debate and vote next week, Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has expressed her support for an extension of the eviction ban. Due to expire at the end of the month a motion has been tabled by Sinn Féin to keep the eviction ban in place and allow those who have been given notice to quit further time to source alternative accommodation.

“The decision by government to lift the eviction ban is nonsensical,” said Deputy Whitmore. “We were told by government that its purpose was to provide breathing room while supply issues were addressed. Government has failed to meet that goal. Now, in the face of some of the lowest supply and highest prices ever Wicklow renters are being left with no security of housing.

“These renters range from families to individuals; from students to retirees; people with complex medical needs to those who need to live here for work. Everyone is affected by this government’s lack of action on housing. The ban must be extended, and government must come up with real alternatives to their current housing policy which is failing to help those most in need.”

Amid growing unease and panic across the county, the Social Democrats TD said she has been contacted by scores of residents fearful for their future once the ban kicks in on March 31.

“Every week since January I have had between 10 and 15 new constituents approaching my office looking for help on housing,” she said. “Private renters are being evicted because their tenancy is not protected when the home is sold. HAP recipients cannot find anywhere to rent and are facing pulling their children out of school to move to another town or county.

"People who have been renting for more than a decade from the same landlord are now faced with eviction notices. They are going to be entering a market with significantly less supply and rents that have surpassed all records in Ireland.”

And Deputy Whitmore believes the housing crisis is a damning indictment of the parties who have been in government for the past decade and more.

“We have had 12 years of Fine Gael and Fine Fail running the shop and we have reached a point where TDs like me have people on a weekly basis in their offices or clinics petrified because they don’t where they will be living soon. My main question to government is: what are we supposed to tell them? Where are these people supposed to go? And did they even consider this when they took the decision to lift the eviction ban?”