Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the issue of Irish families currently living in hotels because they have nowhere else to live as they are homeless, I welcome the announcement by the Leader the day before yesterday that Members would have a discussion with the Minister for Social Protection on 28 May to consider the role of rent supplement in this debacle. All Members are only too well aware that in the urban areas in particular, one cannot access properties at the rent supplement limit and that rent supplement is a serious factor in homelessness in Ireland today. However, I note that 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Act, which was the occasion of a sea change in legislation in Ireland to protect tenants and give them security of tenure in the private rented sector. It has come to my attention, particularly over the past six months, that there has been a significant rise in the number of what I would describe as spurious evictions on the grounds that an owner wanted to sell the property concerned or because the owner's son or daughter wished to live there. These all are based on the fact that some landlords - not all - are able to get more money out of someone else. What is happening at present is that people's security of tenure is being undermined severely. I seek a debate on the issue of regulation and security of tenure in the rented sector today. It is a serious matter to see people coming home to find their clothes in black sacks outside the door and being evicted for nothing other than economic reasons.