Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

What we needed was a real extension of the evictions ban and rent controls to bring rents down, but that is not what we got. This Bill is a triumph of spin over substance, with the Government getting headlines about extending the evictions ban while in reality the Bill slashes the rights of tenants and opens the floodgates of evictions by removing important protections for renters.

In recent months we have seen a decline not just in Covid-19 but also in homelessness. Now, due to mismanagement by the Government, we are at risk of a second wave of the virus and this Bill, if it is passed, will unleash a second wave of the housing crisis. Against the advice of the homeless charities and the demands to extend the evictions ban and rent freeze, the Government wants to make it easier for landlords to kick tenants out. Section 12 will allow landlords once again to evict someone simply so the landlord can get a higher sale price for the house.

Tenants who have done nothing wrong, paid every bill and been good neighbours could be evicted simply because the landlord does not want to sell the property with tenants in situunaffected, as is the norm across the world and for commercial property in Ireland. Yet again, ordinary people have less right to safety and security than businesses. There is little to stop landlords who want to evict someone for rent arrears caused by the coronavirus from using these other clauses to get rid of them. It means that the Government is lying when it claims that the Bill will protect those in arrears due to Covid-19.

The Government has not included protections for those in high-risk categories. Elderly people and those with underlying conditions could now face eviction. How are they supposed to cocoon on the streets of Dublin or in homeless shelters? Instead of the reintroduction of evictions, we should extend the evictions ban and rent freeze until at least the end of the year. The past week has seen five deaths of homeless people on the streets of Dublin, five people failed by the Government and the State. How many more must die on our streets before the Government realises that this, too, is a pandemic that requires emergency measures?

The evictions ban this year managed to reduce the number of people in homelessness and we saw emergency accommodation being taken over by the State to help get people off the street. We have seen that where there is a will there is a way to end homelessness. However, there is no will from the Government. Deputy Hourigan, who negotiated the programme for Government, has said that the programme will make homelessness worse. It is a Government of landlords and developers and it seems that mortgage holders, renters and the homeless are an afterthought. We can cure the housing crisis, but it means having a left Government with socialist policies that is willing to take on the private landlords and developers, cut rents and build public housing.

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