An 85-yr-old man said he was “devastated” after he was asked to leave the rented house he shared with his wife, reports RTE.
Tom and Maria Brown have been renting a house in Delvin, County Westmeath, for 11 years and are due to move out at the end of September.
Tom served in the Defense Forces for 32 years, serving various tours of duty in Congo, Lebanon and Cyprus.
He has suffered two strokes in the past, most recently in 2020.
Mr Brown said that between their military and state pensions, the couple have been told their income is above the threshold to receive payments for Housing Assistance or social housing.
“A few weeks ago we got notice to quit, they gave us until September, which was reasonable I suppose,” he said, reports RTE.
Tom says the property owner has given him plenty of notice and there is no problem.
“We were devastated because we knew there was nothing available at the moment, at the present. And we looked around and there was still nothing,” he said, reports RTE.
However, he says he hopes they will be able to find a new place to live and the local community is keeping an eye out for any suitable property for them.
He said he had seen several properties, including one that cost €3,000 a month, which he said was “way out of his league”.
On ending the eviction ban, he said “the situation is crazy because there’s a lot more people going to be evicted and there is no houses available, there is no accommodation available anywhere”, reports RTE.
But Tom said he could see both sides of the argument.
“If it was extended, would it make any difference in nine months’ time, or the end of the year? How are they going to build houses in that length of time?”, he said, reports RTE.
Tom and Maria’s case was raised in the Dáil earlier this week by Meath West TD Johnny Gurke.
“You’d be very worried for the people facing eviction today. We were asking the Government to extend it to next January. It would give them another nine months to put things in place, an emergency housing situation, and I think if they done that, we would be in a lot better position,” reports RTE.
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