Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:

We wanted to come in to say something about the compensation provision proposed in the Anti-Evictions Bill 2018. It is proposed that if a landlord was to issue a notice of termination on the grounds that a family member wanted to move in, the equivalent of six months' rent be paid by way of compensation to the tenant. This happens in other European countries. It is usually expected that the landlord and the tenant would agree between themselves and there are restrictions in that regard. As proposed in the Anti-Evictions Bill, one could see a tenant who has only lived in a place for one month receiving notice and then compensation, which seems excessive. It also seems to be a harsh levy to place on a landlord who may be in genuine need of the property. If it is the case that the measure is being proposed to prevent landlords from abusing such grounds for termination, there may be better mechanisms to use. As part of the Department's review in 2017 of Rebuilding Ireland, it was proposed that a landlord be required to notify the RTB when issuing a notice of termination. As a measure to prevent the issuing of such a notice on false grounds, it could be expanded to include a verification process through the RTB. Another option may be providing for a signed declaration from the family member, as well as from the landlord, to accompany the notice of termination. In addition, in the context of the forthcoming Bill proposed by the Government, this could be included in Schedule 2 to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to enable the RTB to investigate if it believed a notice of termination had been issued falsely on the grounds that a family member wanted to move in. While we see abuse of that ground, we are not so sure payment of compensation would be a sufficient way to tackle it. As most landlords only own one property, it would be quite an expense for them to pay compensation.