Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow, John Brady, has accused the Government of giving up on solving the housing crisis after the Department of Housing shared a tone-deaf video with advice to adults on how to cope with moving back into the family home.
Teachta Brady said:
“The Government has quite clearly run out of ideas for how they might solve the housing crisis.
“They have taken down the tricolour from Government buildings and replaced it with a white flag of surrender on this issue.
“Quite simply, they’ve given up.
“Not content with designing a housing policy that is pushing up house prices, pushing up rents, pushing up homelessness and leading to rising levels of young adults living at home, they now wish to lecture the very people that they have forced back to their childhood bedrooms, by offering them tips for how to help around the house.
“The video was completely tone-deaf and shows just how out of touch this Government is.
“The very idea that those responsible for the crisis, would then be the ones to offer advice has rightly sparked serious anger, and it’s anger that I’ve been hearing from my constituents in recent days.
“An average new rental in Wicklow already costs an eye-watering €21,200 a year.
“Over recent weeks, my constituency office has also been dealing with a significant uptick in notices of termination.
“This is pushing people deeper into insecurity and risk of homelessness.
“These are not abstract numbers. These are real families, real people, facing the threat of eviction before Christmas with nowhere to go.
“This situation requires urgent action.
“This week, Sinn Féin introduced the Winter Ban on Evictions Bill.
“The bill, if enacted, would ban no-fault evictions from December through to July 1st 2026.
“It’s what’s urgently needed until the housing and homelessness crisis is brought under control.”
ENDS