FORMER SINN FÉIN TD Violet-Anne Wynne has said that despite her salary of €101,193 she and her six children are homeless and living in a holiday home.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime today, the Clare TD said that after her family moved out of a rental property when they received a notice to quit, they were unable to find another house large enough.
“Since becoming elected it became a primary focus for the family to be able to move into a more feasible accommodation. I had the income to be able to afford such a move. But the larger properties that we would need are few and far between,” she said.
When asked why she was having such difficulty finding accomodation despite her salary and €31,365 of expenses, Wynne said she had no credit history.
She told Cormac Ó hEadhra that her salary as a carer for her son prior to being elected was not viewed as viable income by banks.
“Cost is not an issue at all, it’s availability.”
#homelesscrisis@DarraghOBrienTD @fiannafailparty @FineGael @greenparty_ie Ireland 2022,when a TD can end up homeless!!! pic.twitter.com/jbulbTvurm
— Violet-anne Wynne TD (@WynneTd) June 7, 2022
She added that she had put a lot of thought into describing herself as “homeless”.
“I’m in a very privileged position where we were able to afford renting a holiday home. You know, unfortunately that may come to an end. ”
She said her family would ideally need a four-bed home.
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In February, Wynne quit Sinn Féin claiming she has been subjected to “psychological warfare”.
The Clare deputy said her continued membership of the party had become “untenable”.
The politician said she felt “pressurised” and was not given autonomy to hire her own staff.
“I learned very fast that the party do not take kindly to autonomy and those who do not follow their plans,” she said.
“The Sinn Fein TDs in Leinster House I cannot fault but they are not tasked with making decisions locally and seem to be an entirely separate entity with no power to influence. The issues I continuously faced seem to be at local level within the organisation.”
