A mum-to-be who is heavily pregnant said she faces becoming homeless in weeks due to the high cost of living.
Vanessa O’Sullivan, who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant, said she cannot find alternative accommodation after her landlord decided to sell.
The 34-year-old who is living in Glasnevin in Dublin said she has no idea where she and her new baby are going to go.
Read more: Cost of living: Elderly forced to take trains to keep warm due to high energy costs
Logistics manager Vanessa is paying €900 on a single wage for accommodation but can’t afford any of the one-bedroom rentals currently commanding €1,400 a month.
Fighting back tears she told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I’m not in a good place. I just feel hopeless.
“I have done everything by the book, paid my taxes, and I can barely afford to exist.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be when I come out of hospital with a newborn and that scares me.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be on the street or in a hostel or house, I just don’t know. I’m willing to pay but can’t afford the high rents.”
Vanessa said she has a good paying job but just can’t afford the crippling cost of living expenses.
She added: “I’m seriously panicking. I was given a month to leave and the issue with it is that the cheapest I can find to rent, a one bedroom not even a studio, is €1,400 to €1,500. I only get €2,000 a month and I’m in a good job.
Read more: Recession for Dublin 'increasingly realistic', says capital's economic monitor
“Then on top of the rent there’s food, the phone bill, bins and everything else.”
Vanesssa was approved through HAP but can’t find anything in the price range or anywhere that is willing to rent to a woman with a baby on the way.
She continued: “My application because I’m so heavily pregnant, because of the immediacy, they have approved me for HAP for mother and child.
“It’s only been this week that they have processed and accepted it and that’s only because I was ringing up every day, freaking out and crying on the phone.
“My mental health is through the floor. My physical health is even worse because I already have hyperemesis with the pregnancy.
“It hasn’t been an easy pregnancy and I have been in and out of hospital because of not being able to hold water down and I have to pay €200 a month for medication just to stop me vomiting.
“That’s nothing running up to the birth, that’s just to stop me vomiting 27 times a day.
“What I am eating too is no were near what I should be eating due to the costs. My food bill went from €120 a month to €200, it’s just so expensive to live at the moment.”
Vanessa said her partner(didn’t want to give name) lives in Scotland but is in a similar position there.
She concluded: “My partner lives in Scotland and is already spread thin. He has been in a job for 14 years and can’t leave. Things are pretty much the same over there for him.
“If I leave here I lose my maternity leave and I have nothing and leave all my support networks.
“My family are already stretched in Ireland too, there are five of them in a two bedroom house.”
Read more: Fuel prices Ireland: Cheapest petrol and diesel in Dublin today
Read more: Dublin's children’s hospital costs to increase by €51million
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
