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.

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.

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"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."

(CD/H)