Carroll MacNeill and Richmond call for financial support for families hit by construction shutdown

Deputies Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Neale Richmond have called on the Department for Social Protection to ensure that supports will be available to families who are under huge financial pressure from additional rent bills from the unforeseen lockdown and cessation of construction.

The Fine Gael TDs highlighted the need for financial support to acknowledge the many families in difficult situations due to the halting of construction under Level 5 restrictions.

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Deputy Carroll MacNeill said: “People undergoing home renovations are under huge financial pressure and are finding themselves in particularly tight spots, through no fault of their own.

“Renovations and home construction projects cannot progress at the moment. We know why this is, people understand the reasons for it, but at the same time they’re growing increasingly worried about the financial and logistical implications of this shutdown.

“These families have not budgeted for an extra 4, 5, 6 months’ rent, and simply can’t afford to remain in rental accommodation for much longer. This is happening at a time when, for many, money in general has become tighter and tighter.

“In my own constituency, I’ve been in contact with a family who have been renovating their home since October 2019. Construction on their house has now been shut down twice due to Covid. As frontline healthcare workers, they understand the need for the current restrictions but they’re now living in an unsuitable apartment with their toddler when they should have been back in their home last summer.

“These families require urgent support. They’re under massive pressure and they need to have the financial security to remain in their current accommodation until construction restarts and they can move back into their homes” concluded Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

Deputy Richmond added: “For the past year the Government and Minister Humphreys have been proactive in supporting individuals and businesses who have been adversely impacted by Covid-19 and the resulting restrictions.

“This is an opportunity for the Minister to extend support to those who require help and cannot access their home at a time when financial hardship has hit so many.

“This is a relatively small group of people for whom funding would make the world of a difference and so I would urge the Department to take this into consideration.”

ENDS