Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking on our amendments to Seanad amendment No. 53. Part of the resolution to the housing crisis will be to increase the rights of tenants and to create a situation whereby the legal balance between tenants and landlords is shifted so that tenants can have security of tenure without the risk of being turfed out at short notice and can develop a home and connections with their community, etc. The Government’s amendments for increasing the notice period are entirely inadequate. The period for the landlord to give notice to the tenant remains ridiculously low. A tenant who has been there for less than six months can be turfed out in 28 days. For one who has been there for between six months and a year, the period is 35 days while for who has been there for between a year and two years, the period is 42 days. It makes it easier for the landlord to decide to get the tenants out for whatever reason and creates instability and insecurity for a tenant who, at relatively short notice, can be asked to leave. For that reason, our amendments propose a significant extension of the notice period required for the landlord. I agree that there should be no extension of the period for the notice required from the tenant but the landlord, as a minimum, should give 60 days’ notice. People should have at least two months to get their affairs in order before being asked to leave. This is a question of creating an environment where tenants’ rights come before the ability of landlords to simply choose to put people out for whatever reason.

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