HOMELESS HELL FEARS FOR MUM AND 3 KIDS
Rent ‘shortfall’ could put family of four on street
If I could get a house at the right price I’d take it. I’ve been looking since November
EMMA RICE ON HER SEARCH TO FIND A HOME FOR HER THREE SONS
A MUM of three says she is facing homelessness because she can’t afford exorbitant rents in her area.
Emma Rice, who lives with her sons Jake, seven, Cian, five, and three-year-old Gavin in a house in Dundalk, Co Louth, said her landlord is selling the property and the Housing Assistance Payment will not go far enough.
The 28-year-old added: “I would need €1,600 to rent a threebedroom house where we live.”
However, the HAP she is entitled to is €1,100, a shortfall of €500.
Emma added: “I face going on to the streets. I have been looking for somewhere since last November and we can only stay here until June 30.”
Emma, who has Type 1 diabetes, insists she really needs a bungalow because Cian, who has ADHD, is showing symptoms of dyspraxia and a sensory processing disorder and has fallen on the stairs in their two-storey house.
The last time was during Storm Ophelia and he broke his arm in two places.
The young mum has been on the housing waiting list for around six years but said: “The council told me I am not on it long enough for a council house.
“If I could get a house at the right price I would take it.”
Emma does have family in Dundalk but her mother’s house is already full as she has four children still living at home.
She also fears that were they all to move into her mother’s house her children could be taken from her as it would be so overcrowded.
Emma added: “I am being made feel like a terrible mother.”
Louth County Council said it does not comment on individual cases.