With 120 Galway families before the Repossessions Court in Galway recently due to mortgage difficulties, more families could find themselves in similar circumstances a Galway senator has warned.
Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, who recently attended the Repossessions Court, described the Galway figure as "startling" and said it should be "a wakeup call to the Government" that mortgage distress "remains a key problem facing families".
However the An Cheathrú Rua based senator is concerned more Galway families will end up in danger of losing their homes as the Government’s new housing and homelessness action plan "offers little solace for the thousands of people in mortgage distress".
"I am worried about the lack of movement for those who are in mortgage difficulty and may face losing their home," he said. "The commitment in the Programme for Government to set up a special court to deal with these cases seems to have disappeared."
He said rent certainty "also seems to have been put on the long finger", alleging this was due to the "sheer lack of political will to deal with a broken private rental sector".
“Fianna Fáil, in spite of referencing rent certainty in the lead up to the election, felt that they could not support a Bill proposed by Sinn Féin to deal with this issue," said Sen Ó Clochartaigh.
The senator said issues relating to student accommodation, housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, Traveller accommodation and transitioning people out of direct provision "have not been adequately dealt with in the plan either".
