Proposed taxi regulations disregard Good Friday Agreement – Ellis

April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

April 10, 2013

Sinn Fein Transport spokesperson Dessie Ellis has today renewed his call for proposed legislation on taxi regulation to be amended in order to prevent discrimination against former political prisoners.

Deputy Ellise made his call on the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement which in part sought to help former prisoners of the conflict to get and hold on to employment opportunities.

Deputy Ellis said;

“Many former republican and loyalist prisoners covered under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement are currently taxi drivers. Most have never had any trouble in this job and are hard workers who provide an important service.

“New legislation proposed by Minister Alan Kelly would mean these drivers would have their livelihood put at risk as they could potentially be barred or suspended from operating their taxi. These drivers are already struggling in the harsh economic climate to put food on the table and a roof over their families’ heads.

“These proposals are totally against the spirit of an international agreement this state signed up to, which was ratified by the people.

“I have raised this with Minister Kelly but he refuses to deal with the issue. He has a responsibility to legislate with the spirit of the agreement in mind. I call on him to reconsider and make the relevant amendments.”

ENDS

Filed Under: Transport

Tenant evictions due to repossessions must be avoided – Ellis

April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

April 16, 2013

Sinn Fein spokesperson on Housing Dessie Ellis TD has called on the Minister to work to develop a binding code of conduct to avoid rental tenants be evicted in the event of repossessions. He made his comments during a debate requested by him in the Dáil today.

Deputy Ellis continued:
“Across the state and especially in Dublin we are facing a crisis within a crisis. This is the problem of landlords who are not paying their mortgages and in doing so are jeopardising the housing of potentially thousands of people.

“In the last few weeks I have personally dealt with five families in Dublin who are facing eviction due to the repossession of their rented homes. The lenders want to sell and wash their hands of the property, in some cases forcing the landlord to evict the families before they take over.

“I spoke to Emma, a mother of two from Drimnagh: 13 years on waiting lists afraid to leave her home to go to speak to the council because she might come home to find that she has been evicted.

“The long term solution is to provide sustainable public housing which is not endangered by the whims of the market, lenders or profit driven landlords. The more immediate solution is to force lenders to enter into a code of conduct in relation to tenants, especially those with an assessed social housing need who are particularly at risk of homelessness in the event of eviction.

“Banks need to honour tenancy agreements in conjunction with a strategy from Local Authorities to ensure that no tenant is left homeless. As we face increased repossessions due to government policy this will only become worse if nothing is done.”
ends

Filed Under: Housing