Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are many holes in the Bill - more than in a sieve. What will leak out of this sieve is families into homelessness. In my area of Dublin Mid-West, good tenants have entered homelessness through absolutely no fault of their own. We need to protect families. The ban on evictions, notices to quit and rent increases that was introduced last March protected families and led to a significant drop in the number of families becoming homeless. Thanks to the ban, fewer children have had to move out of safe and secure homes into temporary accommodation, fewer children have been subjected to unstable bed and breakfast hotel accommodation, and fewer children have been forced to share one room with their parents and siblings.

I have witnessed over the years the trauma that families experience when they receive a notice to quit, the fear that parents feel for their family's future and the fear that parents do their best to shield their children from. Even with the best will in the world from parents, their children cannot but absorb these fears. Once such children are forced into homelessness, they get on the not-so merry-go-round of trying to find suitable temporary accommodation. Phone call after phone call, they are told there is no room at the inn, and phone call after phone call, parents see the spark of hope diminish in the eyes of their children. If they do find temporary accommodation, it is exactly that - temporary - and they must repeat the same process of phone call after phone call, the next day and the day after that. More hope is diminished in their children's eyes. The long-term effects of child homelessness, unfortunately, will be felt by our society for many years to come.

The Bill will provide very limited protection from eviction and rent increases for renters. Our much-appreciated front-line workers, who kept the State going during Covid-19 and are often in low-paid employment, could be in danger of becoming homeless on foot of any rent increases. I include people working in retail who kept the shops open during Covid, the cleaners who kept our hospitals clean, the bin men who removed our waste, the security drivers who minded our business, the delivery drivers who delivered the much-needed protective personal equipment to the front line and many more low-paid workers. If the Bill passes in its current form, it will see the removal of protection for renters. This Fianna Fáil Bill will make their circumstances even more precarious. A round of applause in the Chamber will not keep a roof over their heads.

It is more cost-effective for the Government to keep people in their homes than force them into homelessness. Landlords will again be able to issue vacant-possession notices to quit or to implement such notices that were served before 27 March. These notices have been the single greatest cause of family homelessness in recent years. The 27 March ban on evictions resulted in a dramatic reduction in the numbers of families presenting as homeless. Ending this ban will inevitably result in an increase in the number of families presenting as homeless. It shows that the ban on evictions, rent increases and issuances of notices to quit is working and more families are staying in their homes as a result. The ban on evictions should be extended to at least the end of 2020 and a three-year ban on rent increases should be introduced.

The Bill is another example of how out of touch Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are with the people they believe they represent. The Minister should not take my word for it. We have all received circulars from Threshold, the Simon Communities and many other organisations that have said the Bill is overly complex and that a simple extension of the current legislation to ban evictions, notices to quit and rent increases introduced would have been welcome. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have ignored these pleas.

A few moments ago, I listened incredulously to the Minister's party colleague, Deputy Haughey, who asked him not to pursue the purchase of social housing from private homeowners. This is another sign of how out of touch the Minister's party is. We need to do everything possible to increase the social housing stock. Deputy Haughey would be better off calling for real, affordable housing and an increase in the income threshold for social housing. These are the solutions.

As for the Green Party, this is not the change that people wanted or expected when they voted for it. We all have an interest in saving the planet but I do not know what planet the Green Party is on, supporting the Bill. I urge Deputies from the Green Party not to support it in its current form or, at the very least, not to enter the Chamber when the votes are called.

The Bill will require families to submit a written declaration to the landlord and the RTB to the effect that their income level has dropped or ceased due to Covid-19. Many renters, particularly those with language, literacy or capacity issues, may not be able to engage with the written declaration process. As a result, they could lose their entitlements to protections. What the Bill will do, in essence, is remove safeguards put in place to stop families becoming homeless in the middle of a pandemic. It will force more and more families into homelessness during this worldwide pandemic and that is an absolute scandal.

See this speech in context