Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Casey will take the Chair after my contribution as I will have to leave to attend another meeting on housing. While Deputy Darragh O'Brien abstained in the vote on Second Stage of the Anti-Evictions Bill 2018, I voted against it, as Deputy Barry is aware, because I believed it was unfair and unconstitutional for various reasons. Two weeks ago the committee met in private session with the Minister and representatives of the Residential Tenancies Board to tease out these issues, as mentioned by Deputy Darragh O'Brien. We resolved differences on many issues, including student accommodation and received significant clarity and moved forward on the issue of refurbishment. All parliamentary counsel will be occupied for the next month with the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2019, but I presume that the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill will be brought before the committee as soon as possible.

I acknowledge the frustration of Mr. O'Brien and agree with the majority of his comments. Cost rental will be a game changer as the State will become a major landlord in the market. It is about having the right supply in the market. According to the Daft.iequarterly bulletin figures referred to by Mr. O'Brien, 8,500 properties were available to rent in 2012, compared with 2,800 last December. If the 6,000 landlords who left the market in 2017 had not done so, their properties would bring availability back up to 2012 levels. That indicates the fragility of the sector.

I was present for the discussion of the legislation to implement rent pressure zones more than two years ago and heard the arguments from all sides. However, very few alternative solutions or options were put forward. I am opposed to rents being linked with the consumer price index, CPI. Is Deputy Ellis proposing that it be done on an annual basis? Landlords take a risk. The CPI does not take into account the additional costs incurred by landlords which have been mentioned. We must be real about it. I am not referring to the big commercial landlords but to those who own one or two properties, who make up the majority of landlords. We must tread carefully in dealing with this issue. When rent pressure zones were introduced, we said it was about treading carefully and protecting the rights of landlords and tenants equally such that one was not given precedence over the other. We must be very careful in how we proceed with legislation when it comes to people's rights.

We are here to scrutinise the Bills before us. Deputy Barry stated he would provide us with the legal advice he had received. Unfortunately, the provider of legal advice for Deputy Jan O'Sullivan was unable to attend the meeting, but the Deputy will provide the committee with that advice. I look forward to seeing it because although a Government Bill goes through various legal processes and is subject to scrutiny before it is brought before the Dáil, that is not the case for Private Members' Bills.

I am opposed to the proposal made in Deputy Barry's Bill that six months' compensation be paid to a tenant whose landlord terminates the tenancy in order to sell the property. I also disagree with his definition of "eviction". To me, a valid notice to quit involves the proper notice period to find another property being given and the notice to quit being within the legal parameters. The Deputy wishes to provide for compensation to be paid in such circumstances. He may correct me if I am wrong, but I think such a provision would be unjust. I ask him for his feedback in that regard.

We are making great strides in the provision of student accommodation. Supply is a significant issue. I am glad that Ms Byrne alluded to the amount of student accommodation that had been delivered and where we were going. Obviously, we need to go much further, but significant work in including student accommodation in rent pressure zones has been done and I think she will be happy with what is coming forward.

A landlord has the right to sell a property once it is done within the legal parameters of the notice to quit and relevant termination periods. If a landlord wishes to sell the property with the tenant in situ, he or she has the right to do so. However, to stipulate that it be sold with the tenant in situ would be going too far. I wholly oppose such a measure as it would favour one side over the other. As Deputy Darragh O'Brien pointed out, this is not about pitching landlords against tenants; rather, it is about having a functioning rental sector, which is only now beginning to mature. We have a lot of catching up to do.

On supply, we do not need to go over what happened in the past, but we know that what is coming down the line in expected population growth and with Brexit. We know that we are running to stand still, but we are making great strides. I do not want any legislation to be brought forward that would push landlords out of the market and exacerbate the issues before us. It is about equal rights on both sides. I ask Mr. O'Brien to outline his responses on the proposed legislation.