Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I concur with the Minister on what is proposed in the Bill. As he said, the Government recently passed the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 which puts protections in place for tenants, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It makes it unlawful to evict people who are impacted by the pandemic until 11 January 2021, a welcome provision. It also introduces new protections for those tenants who have been negatively impacted by Covid-19. It is targeted and focused law which provides short-term and long-term measures to protect those tenants who have experienced rent arrears and hardship as a result of the pandemic.

Where a tenant makes a written declaration that the economic impact of Covid-19 puts his or her tenancy at risk, the Act provides protection for them. It prohibits rent increases where tenants are impacted by the pandemic and are in receipt of income support or rent supplement. In the long term, the new law mandates that before a notice of termination grounded on rent arrears can be served, a tenant has a further 28 days to pay any outstanding rent. This is a welcome measure and one which has assisted many individuals. The involvement of the Residential Tenancies Board at an early stage will help tenants vindicate their rights and help prevent evictions.

It is important that the proposers of this Bill recognise the recently passed Act because it provides many protections. These include the swift resolution by the Residential Tenancies Board on hearing disputes between tenants on deposits and the reform of the fair deal scheme to incentivise renting out vacant properties, a particular issue in my constituency.

I question the Bill's constitutionality and will be opposing it. While I am open to all considerations to assist renters, any Bill put before the House must be focused, targeted and sustainable, as well as constitutionally sound. Accordingly, I will not be supporting the Bill.

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