Cowen apologises to anyone offended by Dáil evictions ban remark

In an interview on RTÉ radio, Offaly TD Barry Cowen offered an explanation for his controversial Dáil remarks on the evictions ban.

Yesterday, the Clara native compared the ban on no-fault evictions to "making sweets free for children," saying, "it's fine for a little while but ultimately detrimental to the greater need".

The Fianna Fáil representative was interviewed about his comments on RTE's Today with Claire Byrne programme.

"What I said was just an analogy in order to get the message across that short-term solutions don't always work in the long-term," he said.

"I have four children myself, I wouldn't say anything derogatory about children. I'm sorry if people were offended by what I said — it certainly wasn't my intention.

"I spoke about how this is a housing emergency and crisis. I spoke about how I'm working in my own county and implored other deputies to work with councils to act on Government instructions.

"For people to imply that I don't appreciate, understand or have empathy for those who are faced with this situation — I'm an elected representative for the last 30 years. I have situations in my own county where social houses are being constructed.

"If people were offended by what I said, it wasn't my intention. It wasn't my intention. What more do you want me to say?"

His "sweets for children" comparison drew gasps from some quarters of the Dáil chamber on yesterday, with Labour Party Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin saying: "The sweets for children remark was disgraceful."

After the debate chair asked Deputy Ó Ríordáin not to interrupt, Deputy Cowen responded: "Deputy Ó Ríordáin's remarks are disgraceful."

* Our story from yesterday about this controversy can be found HERE.