Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the points made by some colleagues regarding the landlords when a tenant is giving notice. I believe the provision that a tenant of eight years and more must give 112 days' notice is absolutely mad.

Tenants have many commitments. They may have lost their jobs. They may have to go somewhere else, including abroad. There might be a death in the family or other reasons. In this context this provision is crazy.

With RAS we have had people tied to contracts for three or four years. Landlords have then looked to get those properties back. They have given excuses that it is a family home and they need to go back into the home, etc. They should be required to supply strong proof. The Minister of State has spoken about imposing penalties and requiring proof. However, if they do not do what they said they would do, we need to be very tough on the consequences. We need to have very strong proof from the landlord that it will happen. We have all come across people who have been on RAS and thinking that they were set for another two or three years when, all of a sudden, they are put out. Of course they are given notice but that is not good enough in many cases. Penalties need to be much stronger.

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