News

It has never been clearer that Government housing policies are the leading contributor to evictions and homelessness, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Today’s figures show there were a record 17,517 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of March. Shockingly, 5,571 of them are children, another devastating […]

The Government will oversee an even greater spike in homelessness if it does not immediately introduce a no-fault eviction ban, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Evictions in the final quarter of 2025 were up 41% on the same period the year before, while over 20,000 notices to quit were […]

The Government is telling a generation of young people that their future is living in a shed in the back of a garden, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “The Government’s ‘beds in sheds’ policy is pockmarked with a litany of flaws. There is no mechanism to prevent these sheds […]

Today’s harrowing record-high homelessness figures are an indictment of a Government which has completely lost control of Ireland’s housing emergency, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Today’s figures show there were a record 17,308 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of February. Shockingly, 5,457 of them are […]

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne will introduce a bill tomorrow (Wednesday, March 25) to give people a constitutional right to housing. Deputy Hearne, who is the party’s housing spokesperson, said: “I am introducing my bill at a time when evictions and homelessness are at record levels. There is no mention of a right to housing […]

It is unconscionable that sick, elderly and disabled people in a retirement village in Sligo have been issued eviction notices, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “In November, the tenants of six of the houses in Sonas Retirement Village in Enniscrone were told by their landlord, Nasso BK Holdings Ltd, […]

Rental measures introduced by government on March 1st have led to record levels of eviction notices not seen since the famine, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “In the months leading up to the government’s rental changes, which allow landlords to reset rents to market rate between tenancies, I repeatedly […]

The government must legislate against the out-of-control number of AirBnBs and vacant homes across Ireland, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Today, we’ve heard two interconnected stories which highlight the utter disaster of the housing crisis and the failure of government housing policy. “Threshold has shown that more than 8,600 […]

Figures released today by housing charity Threshold provide further proof that the government was wrong to proceed with the introduction of its disastrous new rent regulations this week, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who is the party’s housing spokesperson, said: “Threshold’s final quarter figures for 2025 show a 21 per cent […]

The issuing of eviction notices to 36 separate households in Wexford by just one landlord is indicative of the huge crisis in the rental sector as the government ploughs ahead with measures that will make the situation even worse, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “For months now, I have […]