Ireland north and south is currently in the eye of a storm. We need to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and delay its spread while supporting health care staff, workers and those most in need.
We need to see a massive increase in testing capacity and urgent steps taken to ensure frontline health and social care staff are properly resourced with appropriate Personal Protection equipment.
We need to ensure maximum cooperation across the island of Ireland and ensure financial measures are put in place to protect workers and families.
We need to ensure that we have all available capacity within our health systems, that we have sufficient ventilators and respiratory equipment, sufficient beds including ICU beds, and that our frontline workers are protected. We need more testing and tracing and we need to ensure that we have all available capacity within our health systems, that we have sufficient ventilators and respiratory equipment, sufficient beds including ICU beds.
The lack of protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, carers and others is causing a lot of concern – with frontline workers taking to the internet looking for resources and the government have stated that homehelp workers don’t need PPE.
We need to see delivery of more testing across the island to tackle COVID-19 in line with the advice of WHO and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Last week’s legislation in the Dáil will mean that landlords cannot issue notices to quit or evict tenants or increase rent over the next three months. A rent supplement is also expected to be introduced. While this is welcome, more needs to be done. Tens of thousands will accumulate substantial rent arrears during the emergency. With average rents of €1200 per month statewide and €1762 in Dublin this debt burden could be between €3,000 and €6,000 per renter depending on their rent levels and the length of the crisis. This is unsustainable and will cause a real problem when the ban on evictions and notices to quit is lifted.
There is a solution – we must ensure that landlords whose tenants are unable to pay their rent get a real moratorium on their mortgage and in turn renters must get real rent reductions and waivers. This means landlords get some level of rent via rent supplement and the renter will not be left with unsustainable debt when the restrictions are lifted.
In the north, Sinn Féin Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has introduced measures to support those in the public housing sector and we have called for mortgage relief for homeowners and businesses.
