Mr. Paul Lemass:

I will happily take the questions concerning tenancies, and my colleagues can address those on planning. On the question regarding why there have been only 348 self-declarations by tenants, all I can tell the Deputy is that we asked, and funded, the RTB to write to all landlords and tenants to make them aware of these protections.

We sent out in the neighbourhood of 400,000 notices because there were 300,000 tenancies but about 100,000 landlords involved. We wrote to all of the people involved to make them aware of these protections. That is out there. We publicise it quite heavily through the RTB, online and in the media but also by writing to registered tenants and landlords and making them aware of it.

The Deputy asked why more people are not availing of the protection. I can only refer him back to the research the ESRI conducted for us in the middle of this year which pointed to the fact that the temporary payments, plus the decline in consumption patterns because of the lockdown, would have affected the build-up of arrears in the short term. We then came out of lockdown but later went back into lockdown. It is borne out by figures that suggest average national savings have gone up and people's wealth has gone up that little bit. There may be something in all of that because the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and other payments are helping people get through this period. I cannot say definitively. I can only speculate based on that evidence.

As regards when the tenant can declare, this part applies to a situation where there is a significant risk of the tenancy of the dwelling being terminated by the landlord. It is not any more specific than that. It applies if a tenant feels at risk of arrears and at risk of a tenancy being terminated as a result of them. The arrears may not have occurred yet but the tenant may know that in the weeks and months to come, because he or she is not working or because of certain financial challenges, he or she is at risk. That is the situation. It is a self-declaration but the person has to be accurate in what he or she says in the assessment and it is an offence to make a false declaration. It is up to the tenant to make that declaration.

Regarding why tenants have to have recourse to MABS, the new provisions require them to request the RTB to facilitate engagement with MABS. One of our concerns is that there were 348 declarations at the end of November but only seven people had recourse to MABS. MABS is there to help people. We want to be sure that people put together workable arrangements with landlords that will endure well beyond these protections. Someone may have a problem now and may need protection until 11 January, or 12 April, as it is hoped the date will soon be, but that will not be long coming around. We are keen for people to engage with MABS so they can put in place longer term and more sustainable arrangements.

The Deputy asked about landlords who might have no loss of income and landlords in receipt of the PUP. If a tenant feels that a landlord's declaration is unfair and the landlord is proceeding to terminate the tenancy, the tenant can raise a dispute.