Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and it is wrong to conflate the two. Eviction rates in Ireland are probably among the lowest in the western world. Leaving that aside, a crucial part of the Government's housing policy has been to enhance and strengthen the rights of tenants. We did so by introducing rent controls. Hundreds of thousands of people renting across the country who might have faced very high rent increases in recent years have had rent increases of between 0% and 4% instead. That has brought a lot of relief to people who are renting. There are also longer notice-to-quit periods such that if somebody is asked by the owner to leave a property, he or she is given much more time to find an alternative place to rent, and that has really helped people too. As for notices to quit linked to refurbishments, it is now a requirement that the landlord offers the refurbished house or apartment to the tenant after the refurbishment takes place, which I think will make a difference too.

The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, has confirmed that a number of cases related to the specific matters the Deputy raised have now been referred to its independent dispute resolution process, and that is ongoing. The RTB replaces the courts in the majority of lanlord-tenant disputes, and it is important that all parties are afforded due process and that their cases are heard in order to ensure that the dispute resolution system is legally robust. We strongly encourage any tenant to contact the RTB to access a dispute resolution service if an issue arises. As of 1 July of this year, the RTB has new powers of investigation and can sanction improper conduct by landlords, including any non-compliance with tenancy termination provisions.

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