Mr. Paul Lemass:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for this opportunity to further brief them on the proposed Dáil Committee Stage amendments to the Planning and Development Bill 2020 in relation to proposed additional protections under the Residential Tenancies Acts. I am accompanied by Mr. Liam Smyth, assistant principal, from the rental market policy unit, who is connecting remotely to this session. I would like also to recognise the tremendous support and forbearance that this committee, and its predecessor, has afforded the Department since March in introducing urgent, complex and significantly enhanced tenancy protections during the pandemic. This will be the fourth time in 2020 that the Oireachtas has been asked to make legislative changes relating to the Residential Tenancies Acts, namely, Part 2 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 in March providing a moratorium on evictions and rent increases during Covid-19 to 1 August; the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 in July providing more targeted tenancy protections for those in rent arrears due to Covid-19 to 10 January - up to end November 2020 - 348 tenant declaration have been made to gain the protections under this Act; the Residential Tenancies Act 2020 in October to protect tenants from evictions when people’s movement is restricted to within 5 km of their homes; and the proposed Part 3 of the Planning and Development Bill 2020 in December to again, provide targeted tenancy protections, subject to certain conditions, for those in rent arrears due to Covid-19 to 12 April.

The proposed new provisions will operate, subject to certain conditions, from 11 January 2021 to 12 April 2021 to provide enhanced protections for those tenants who are facing rent arrears due to Covid-19 and, as a result, are at risk of losing their tenancy. Similar to the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, if a tenant’s ability to pay rent has been impacted by Covid-19 and the tenant meets specific criteria, new procedures and protections apply under these new provisions. Tenants who follow these procedures cannot be required to vacate their rental accommodation before 13 April 2021 and are not required to pay any rent increase in respect of the period ending 12 April 2021. Where a tenant makes the required written declaration to the RTB and his or her landlord to avail of the enhanced tenancy protections from 11 January 2021 to 12 April 2021, he or she will be required at the same time to serve a notice on the RTB requesting it to assist him or her to obtain advice from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS; and within five days of making the declaration, the tenant will also be required to serve a notice on their landlord requesting a consultation to agree rent payment arrangements.

New conditions apply to these new tenancy protections that are designed to better balance the legal rights of tenants and landlords, taking account of the Constitution. The opportunity is being provided in this Bill to allow a landlord to make a counterdeclaration to disapply the new protections on foot of the financial hardship that they would cause for the landlord.

I thank the committee for facilitating this briefing and both Mr. Smyth and I will answer any questions that members might have.