Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille seo. Is Bille é atá dírithe ar chearta na dtionóntaí, go háirithe tionóntaí atá eagla orthu go gcuirfear amach as a dtithe iad nó atá á íobairt. Tuigimid go bhfuil sé sin ag tarlú go mór le blianta beaga anuas. Labhair an Teachta Ó Broin fá dtaobh de sin agus faoin méid duine atá gan dídean anois mar gheall ar sin. The issue of evictions is broad, in that owner-occupiers also face eviction, but the Bill is silent on that point. I have tried to push that issue in the House. Unfortunately, the law went only one way during the previous term, and that was in favour of the banks.

In reality, this is a tenant protection Bill. That is an extremely important issue and, like Deputy Ó Broin, I support the majority of the Bill's sections and proposals. Earlier, I raised with the Taoiseach the lack of any sort of action taken by the Government to tackle the vulture funds. As we saw in Limerick last week, it is not only mortgage holders who fear the letter in the door saying that the vultures have arrived in their estates. This is not just a Dublin issue either, as it affects every part of the country, urban and rural. The banks have been empowered to repossess as a first resort. When they take control of buy-to-lets, their first action is often to send a letter asking tenants to get out. Sometimes, very little happens afterwards. Two of the State-owned banks had 1,000 vacant homes between them before Christmas. All of the attention was on Apollo House as a vacant NAMA building, and rightly so, but it is disgusting to think that two State-owned banks had 1,000 properties lying empty when people were homeless on our streets.

We have a dysfunctional system in which mortgage holders and tenants come bottom of the list. There needs to be a rebalancing of the law and the codes of conduct, as promised in the programme for Government, to protect the family home and tenants. Tonight, however, the Government is again covering its ears and pretending that its approach is working. It is not working for the homeless families. It is not working for the tenants caught up in the supply crisis and with international capital buying up the country.

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