Sinn Féin senators will this evening table a motion on the cuts to the Rent Allowance which are seeing many tenants in the private rental sector struggling to cope and in some cases forced out of their houses.
The most recent budget saw a cut of €21 million to the Rent Allowance budget. This led to a review of the rates across the state and a new lower set of rates being brought in.
Speaking in advance of the motion Galway Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said: “People are seriously struggling to deal with the fall-out of the cut to the Rent Allowance which has seen tenants forced to try and renegotiate their leases downwards directly with their landlords. This is an impossible task and has led to people being forced out of their homes to find alternative accommodation at very short notice.
“This decrease in rates will cause some tenants to default on the lease agreement leaving them in a very precarious legal situation.
“This is a totally unacceptable situation and will impact on vulnerable tenants, many of whom are elderly, in receipt of disability allowance or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“What is needed is for the government to sit down with landlord representatives to negotiate a rent level for certain areas rather than leaving it to tenants to try and sort themselves.
“We in the Sinn Féin Seanad team are using private members time to table this important motion and I am calling on all senators from all parties and none to support it.”
