Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. Any respite for people who are threatened with eviction is better than their not getting that respite at all. This is true in the current circumstances and in any circumstances where people face the possibility of being made homeless by a landlord, overwhelmingly because that landlord wishes to sell a property or refurbish it or, as also happens, the landlord says that he or she needs to do so when, in fact, the intention is to get rid of the tenant and increase the rent. In any event, to be made homeless, particularly in a situation where it is nearly impossible, as it is in many areas, to get alternative accommodation, puts people in a terrible situation. If one is evicted by one's landlord, it is, in many cases, a recipe for ending up in emergency accommodation, couch surfing or living in overcrowded conditions with family members or friends. To get respite from that at any time, including in the midst of a pandemic, is certainly better than having the threat of eviction hanging over people.

However, I really do not see why the provisions in this Bill are limited to level 5 restrictions and the ten days after they are lifted. It is almost a form of cruelty to do that, particularly in the run-up to Christmas. The idea that one's landlord cannot evict one for the next six weeks but will get the green light to do so before Christmas is an awful prospect and a terrible thing to inflict on people. We are talking about very real and live situations. I have raised the situation of the St. Helen's Court residents in Dún Laoghaire with the Minister many times. They are still in the same situation, waiting for the axe to fall as their landlord continues to try to push them out. In the same block where these people, including families, have been resident for many years are ten apartments owned by the same landlord that have been sitting empty for two years.

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