Receivers of rent supplement must be protected from losing homes – Ellis

Dessie Ellis TD

November 6, 2012

Sinn Fein Housing spokesperson Dessie Ellis TD has called on the government to shield those in receipt of rent supplement from any further cuts and to protect those who are at threat of losing their homes due to cuts already imposed by the Fine Gael and Labour coalition. He made his comments following the publication of a report by Focus Ireland on the Rent Supplement scheme.

Ellis continued;

“The report says that by cutting rent supplement the government were seeking to use it to lower rents generally. Not only is this ethically wrong, playing with the lives of thousands of people on the scheme but it is also a completely wrong policy which has been shown not to work and ignores the reason for higher rents.

“People who were struggling before on rent supplement, are now fearful of losing their homes thanks to government cuts to the scheme. Quite a few already have and are now struggling to find alternative accommodation based on the reduced supplement.

“The government has cut and cut again from the most vulnerable and this cannot continue.

“They must assure people that rent supplement will not be cut in this budget, they must row back on previous cuts and put in place measures which make it easier for people to find accommodation which will take rent supplement and at reasonable rates.

“This should include direct dealings by the state with landlords to secure value for money and good quality accommodation for tenants.”

ENDS

Supporting youth participation in Finglas

Please find enclosed details of the ‘Supporting Youth Participation’ in Finglas Workshop which is taking place on Tuesday 25th September at 7pm in Dublin City Council offices as part of Finglas Community Safety Week.

If you have any queries regarding this event, please contact Mr Tim Stewart, Tel: 08 602 47083.

A workshop facilitated by ‘The Barnardos Amplifying Voices Initiative’

Exploring the roles adults, agencies and community representatives play in supporting youth participation.

· Are young people interested in our community?

· Are young people responsible for the issues affecting our community?

· How do we get young people more involved in the conversations that are taking place in our community?

· Where do young people go to be heard in our community?

· Are young people part of the solution to some of the community issues?

Come along to this workshop and explore how we can all play a role in making Finglas a place where both young and older people work together to identify issues and affect positive change.

The Barnardos Amplifying Voices Initiative is a community based project for 10 – 15yr olds. It is for young people living in or accessing services across all areas of Finglas. It aims to support young people to explore matters that are important to them, express their views and to work in partnership with decision makers to create positive change or influence the decisions on those issues. Amplifying Voices will work in partnership with existing local services to support young people in finding and using their voice to be change makers in their community.