Sabbatical officers from colleges around the country camp out on the Custom House lawn.
Ronan Costello
Editor
USI officers and sabbatical officers from colleges around the country are sleeping out on the lawn of the Custom House tonight, to protest against landlords who withhold deposits.
Student representatives have pitched their tents on the lawn of the Custom House. Refused entry by Custom House security, USI President Gary Redmond decided to climb over the railings and pitch his tent. Redmond was informed by Custom House security that the Gardaí had been called and were on their way but this left Redmond unfazed, as such a development had been expected.
When the Gardaí arrived they did little more than watch the students pitching their tents and chat among themselves. Eventually they agreed to let the protestors stay the night.
USI President Gary Redmond climbs the Custom House railing.
The purpose of the protest is to call on Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan T.D. to establish a Deposit Protection Scheme, which will protect students from being defrauded by rogue landlords.
USI claim that research they have carried out shows that 40% of students have had their deposit unfairly withheld, that 75% of cases reported to the PRTB are in relation to the deposit retention and that over 60% of students have had over €200 unfairly taken off their deposit.
Gardaí look on as the student reps pitch their tents.
USI President Gary Redmond said , “Each year, students’ unions across the country and USI are contacted by distraught students about their rogue landlords, who refuse to return deposits without any legitimate reason.
USI is calling on the Government to establish a Deposit Protection Scheme, where the deposit is held by an independent agency such as the PRTB protecting students from unlawful actions of some landlords.
The DPS offers a cost effective way of supporting tenants and will eradicate the exploitation of students by unscrupulous landlords, who are deliberately targeting students and retaining their deposits illegally.
With students & their families struggling to afford the basic costs of attending college this situation cannot be allowed to continue. On average, students will pay at least €3,500 on rent over the academic year and will also have to hand over a large deposit.
Across the country many landlords and students have excellent relationships where students rent from the same landlord year after year however unfortunately some landlords see young students as an easy target for exploitation. I am calling on the Minister to implement the Deposit Protection Scheme promised in the programme for Government without delay to protect vulnerable students from rogue landlords.” Unfortunately, rogue landlords are prevalent near enough everywhere, especially with student housing. However, laws have changed over the years and landlords now have to adhere to a set of standards for their homes to be safe for people to move into, if they don’t they can have a case brought against them. From Ireland to America, there are personal injury lawyers that can take their case, all they have to do is search for them in their area, e.g. ‘personal injury lawyer in springfield‘ and they can discuss a possible case with them.
USI President Gary Redmond
