South Dublin family face eviction from their home of 60 years, Dáil told

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Afamily of four fighting eviction from the south Dublin home they have lived in for move than 60 years, fear they will end up “living in the car”.

The family’s plight was raised in the Dáil last week by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who expressed concerns for their welfare to Tánaiste Micheál Martin.

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The family, who wish to remain anonymous, has lived in the south county Dublin home since the woman’s mother first began renting the property in 1958. They were served with a termination notice in 2020.

Mr Barrett made an “urgent” appeal for the government to instruct local authorities to allow the tenant in situ purchase scheme to apply to people who are over the income threshold in cases of homelessness.

Mr Barrett said “the landlord is seeking enforcement proceedings to evict them from the home they have lived in all their lives”.

“Because they are over the income threshold they are not entitled to social housing and they are not entitled to HAP,” he told the Dáil.

“They need hope and at the moment the local authorities are saying tenant in situ doesn’t apply because they are over the threshold.

“They can’t get HAP, because they are over the threshold, but they cannot afford the rents, not even close to the rents that are being charged in their area.

“I’m making an urgent last minute appeal because I am worried about their welfare,” he added.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said an attempt would be made to “pursue” the case. The eviction ban does not apply to the family because they received their notice before it came into place.

“I don’t underestimate the anxiety and stress on that couple,” Mr Martin told the Dáil.

The woman, in her 50s, previously told Independent.ie that since receiving the termination notice, “the ball has kept rolling and rolling and we are falling between all the cracks”.

“We are not going to qualify for anything and we face living in the car,” she said. “My mam and dad have been there since 1958. I’m 55 years living there, and I haven’t lived anywhere else.”

The family’s eviction date passed more than a year ago and the family are “overholding” in the home.

A case by the Residential Tenancies Board found in favour of the landlord and the family are now facing an enforcement order and are due to appear before the courts again next month.

The family said the experience of being evicted is “traumatic”.

“I am terrified,” said the woman. “We have been looking since 2020, since all this kicked off. Everything is way above our budget, and we are not entitled to any sort of help.”

When the woman’s parents initially moved in, the rent was fixed in the 1980s, “so was quite low”, said her husband.

“The landlord gave us the full notice but we can’t find anywhere else to go. We want to stay near the school where the children are,” he added.

The woman said the housing crisis is “disgraceful, there is no help. I’ve written to everybody I can think of to help us”.

“It’s sleepless night after sleepless night,” she said, adding that housing in Dublin is “too expensive… everything is over €3,000-a-month and that’s not our budget”.

“It’s not feasible for us. It’s money we don’t have,” she said.

Mr Barrett added: “They have done absolutely nothing wrong. They have worked, paid their taxes and they are to be put out on the street.

“Because they are a bit over arbitrary thresholds, they are not even entitled to housing assistance payment, they are not entitled to social housing, and it is not certain that they will be entitled to emergency accommodation,” he added.