Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I was interested in Mr. Joyce’s suggestion that we need legislation to make the code of conduct obligatory rather than voluntary in respect of mortgage distress and lenders. The committee had a session on legislation that we felt would be necessary to deal with the housing crisis. That suggestion should definitely be added into the mix. I will be interested to hear the comments of the other witnesses working in this sphere. We discussed rent controls. I do not know if the witnesses have an opinion on them but there has been a debate where the Minister suggested that there was a constitutional impediment to these. We heard speakers who said there is not. I would be interested in the witnesses’ view.

The biggest increase in homelessness I see is due to people being asked to leave because the landlord wants to “sell” the property. In some cases they are selling and in others they are just getting rid of the tenant, particularly if the tenant is in receipt of rent allowance, in order that they can increase the rent. There is plenty of evidence of that. I would be interested to hear Mr. Joyce's view. Would he agree there should, for example, be a ban on evictions given that we have a housing emergency? The Government could impose a ban for a year or whatever period until the crisis eases and more houses are built or become available.

I am glad the mortgage writedown suggestion has been raised. We tend to hear more about split and stretched out mortgages.

The problem is that one third of those are experiencing difficulties, from my reading of it. The point is that those people should not have had that debt in the first instance. It was not sustainable. They were sold overpriced housing.

Another issue I want to raise, which was mentioned by another witness to the committee and which might surprise a lot of people, is that somebody who is losing his or her home, which he or she might have been paying for over 20 years or whatever, does not have an automatic entitlement to free legal aid. We have all seen people showing up in the courts who have no legal teams with them and who are completely ignorant of their rights. I have seen a couple in my own area who are pensioners and who were renting a house for 12 or 15 years. They showed up in their dressing gowns. The witnesses might remember that case in the High Court. All through that process, they never received any advice whatsoever. It is shocking that this is happening to people now, while we see very wealthy individuals in and out of the courts every day. Would the witnesses agree that this right should become automatic for somebody who is facing the loss of what is probably the biggest thing in their life?

What do the witnesses think about awareness of tenants' rights? I find it shocking that the people I deal with seem to have no conception of what I think we would all agree are the very limited rights of tenants in this country compared to others. There are still things people can do but they are completely oblivious of their rights. I am wondering why there are no education or awareness campaigns through the length and breadth of the country, considering that we have people being made homeless every day. People should be told what they can do if they are told to leave a property, what over-holding means - all of these things. People should not have to come to a Deputy to be told, but they do not necessarily have the means to access the information easily. What would the witnesses think of that? It seems so surprising. People leave properties every day. Sometimes they could have done more to stay in them.

We all know that if people leave a house now, they are on the homeless list. There is nothing else for them, particularly if they are on rent allowance. Even if they are not, they will be on the list if they do not have a strong income. Has FLAC approached the Government about anything like that? I am sure it would be willing to give its services to an advertising campaign.