Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 5, line 34, to delete "in."." and substitute the following:

"in.

(2B) In any proceedings brought by a mortgagee seeking an order for repossession of land which is the principal private residence of a mortgagor or principal primary residence of a tenant of the mortgagor, the court shall—(a) adjourn proceedings for a period of at least 12 months,

(b) arrange for the mortgagor to consult with a Personal Insolvency practitioner if they have not already done so,

(c) allow the mortgagor produce a proposal for a personal insolvency arrangement under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, with the explicit purpose of insuring the viability of remaining in the principal primary residence,

(d) instruct the mortgagee to abide by the full terms of any tenancy agreement in place with respect to the property and for the mortgagee to assume the full responsibility of the landlord as stipulated in that tenancy agreement.".".

This is not just a technical Bill that contains an interim measure to permit cases involving land disputes to be taken in the Circuit Court. Currently, the law is that the rateable value of land determines which court a dispute goes to. I do not accept this is a technical Bill, which has no implications for evictions down the road. Some people argue this is the wrong place for the amendments I have tabled. It would be wrong of us not to use any legislation that comes before the House to deal with the most pressing issue we, as a country, face, which is the housing crisis and the threat that lies over the heads of many of our citizens of an uncertain future in respect of a basic human need and a basic human right, which is the right to a home and to shelter. It is entirely appropriate that any legislation that deals with the mechanisms of court proceedings should address the tsunami of repossession orders and subsequent evictions that are before the courts and that will come before the courts in the short term.

My amendments seek, with no apology to legal niceties, to delay institutions from evicting families. They place a command on the courts to follow a procedure that would keep people in their homes until other measures can be taken to stop evictions and the threat of homelessness that hangs over them just before Christmas and beyond. They seek to stop vulture funds and those who have acquired bad debts from evicting tenants who may have never missed a rent payment in their lives but who find themselves caught in the crossfire of big finance and corporate greed. We have to do more and use every opportunity that we can to throw roadblocks and delays in the way of evictions.

The response of the Government to the unfolding crisis has been absolutely pathetic. The measures it has brought in are aimed only at incentivising developers and facilitating corporate landlords. Curiously, while our amendments have been attacked for being inappropriate to a Bill that is just "a technical Bill to ensure efficiency in the courts", the Minister has inserted a provision relating to the Planning and Development Act, which is the subject of two or more amending Bills, with the primary purpose of boosting developers' profits and ensuring landlords continue to reap the benefits of the rental crisis. This is another provision proposed to ease the burden on developers by ensuring changes to strategic development zone, SDZ, planning are not hindered or delayed by subsequent alterations to the SDZ. It is telling that while nothing should get in the way of feeding frenzy for developers, the Government is slow to adopt anything that might help those facing evictions or homelessness.

I refer to the figures. More than 33,000 home owners are in arrears on buy-to-let dwellings while more than 104,000 people are in arrears on their principal private residence. Most evictions are taking place in the private rental sector and more than 30,000 people in mortgage arrears of more than two years could also be evicted. A total of 1,135 possession orders were made by the courts in the first nine months of 2015, a dramatic 70% increase on the number in 2014. Although this is described as a technical Bill mostly related to land valuation, the amendments provide an opportunity to address the most serious issue the country faces. All Members should take the opportunity to table amendments that will halt, slow down or stop evictions faced by thousands of families. If the Government wants to do anything for our citizens coming up to Christmas, this is the least it could do. I reiterate it is curious that a provision has been inserted to ensure SDZs do not have to go through the planning process, even though this is supposed to be a technical Bill relating to land valuation. I commend the amendments to the House.

See this speech in context