A YOUNG woman who was six months pregnant was forced out of rented accommodation because her landlord did not want other tenants disturbed by a crying child, the Dáil has been told.

Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire told fellow TDs that the case was brought to light by housing charity Threshold whose officials also said it was not an isolated incident. He said another woman with a new baby had been living in private rental accommodation but the baby was not wanted by the landlord – so she was forced into homelessness and emergency accommodation.

Mr Ó Laoghaire said landlords were being “brazen because the deck is stacked in their favour and they know the deck is stacked” and they have power over the tenant.

“Can you even begin to imagine the stress, the worry and the anxiety caused to that pregnant woman?” the Cork South-Central TD asked the Taoiseach personally. He argued that these cases illustrated the depths of the crisis faced by renters under the Government’s tenure.

The Sinn Féin TD said the 10,500 homeless people “deserved better than what they got last night.”  This was a reference to the the Government’s survival of a motion of no confidence in Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy by 56 to just three votes.

He accused the Taoiseach of arm twisting and cajoling three Independents. “You even bussed in the absent TD for Cork North Central for the vote,” he said in a reference to controversial TD Dara Murphy, who resigned on Wednesday.

Replying for the Government the Taoiseach said “pregnancy is not grounds for eviction which is illegal.” He said that was why the Rental Tenancies Board (RTB) was in place to help enforce tenants’ rights.

Mr Varadkar said he was not familiar with the case details. When Mr Ó Laoghaire later said that the landlord in the case was fined, Mr Varadkar said he approved.

“I’m reassured to hear that the law was enforced,” the Taoiseach said.

Mr Varadkar added there were good and bad landlords – and the RTB’s role was to deal with the bad ones. “The core of the solution to the housing shortage is more supply and that’s what we are doing,” the Taoiseach said.

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