Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, I wish to address a point on process. No one wants to come in to the House with significant pieces of legislation in a short space of time. It is not my intention to do that on a regular basis, nor have I done so, but there is an urgent imperative to extend tenancy protections to tenants who need them. Let us remember as well that thankfully only 2% of tenancies end up in dispute. Just under 400 tenants, a relatively small amount, sought the self-declaration protection. The fact that the protections are in place and that people, including landlords, are aware of the protections has a positive effect as well.

We did issue 450,000 circulars to tenants and landlords. We are actively engaged with Threshold. I met with Threshold again on Monday, as it is part of my homelessness delivery task force. It has an input into legislation. I am in the process of planning a national campaign on tenants' rights and advice for next year that will run right the way through the year in conjunction with Threshold and other agencies. That is something we should do.

There is also an imperative to protect the Exchequer. There is a reality with what we are dealing with on substitute consent. I understand the reason Deputy Ó Broin raised a point but it was not the case that these provisions were drafted in three weeks. They were worked on for a number of months by way of them being regulations and they were then transposed into primary legislation, so a lot of the work was similar. They were not rushed in a three-week or four-week period. I wish to assure Deputy Ó Broin of that. That was done on the basis of the Attorney General's advice that it would be better and more robust if the measure was on a primary legislative footing. Because of the planning element to the Bill it was decided that we would deal with substitute consent here.

Let us look at what the taxpayer has had to pay already. There was a €5 million lump sum fine. The sum of €15,000 is being paid a day, which led to another €2.475 million in fines every six months. My Department is paying that fine, but I do not agree that my Department should be the one paying the fine. Leaving that aside, I have a duty as well to try to rectify a situation where the taxpayer is being fined and the State is losing money. We have an opportunity to resolve it, and to do so quickly. I have taken the first opportunity to do so. While some people may feel that they have not had the required time to assess these provisions, it has been acknowledged by most Deputies who are present in the House right now that the officials provided very detailed briefings both in person and in writing. They answered detailed questions that were put by Members. I do respect this House. I think Deputy Cian O'Callaghan knows that. I also respect Bunreacht na hÉireann, the democratic process and the legislative process.

I have had the honour of being involved with this since 2007 in both the Dáil and Seanad, and I am now serving as a Minister in a Government. As an Oireachtas we have a duty to protect our citizens. Fundamentally, behind these provisions is an extension to the August provisions that are working. Some criticised them at the time, which is their right, and said that these provisions would not work. They said we would see an alarming increase in evictions and homelessness but I am thankful we have not.

We will not be complacent about this and I know every Deputy in the House wants to ensure we can work together to drive down homelessness, protect tenants' rights and ensure people live in good, secure, permanent and affordable accommodation. That is why this week, just last Monday, we put out a call for our first cost-rental affordable rental scheme. These new tenancies will be tenanted in 2021 for those above the social housing limits. The single biggest public house building campaign in 2021 will be undertaken by me and this Government next year to deliver 12,750 new public homes. These are real measures that will be taken.

I have taken notes of a number of comments from Deputies and we will get the opportunity as we move through the amendments to deal with them in more detail. We have dealt with the substitute consent matter. Deputy Canney mentioned the housing assistance payment. I will deal with the matter of false declarations. If a landlord makes a false declaration, it would be, correctly, an offence. That is provided for in the legislation.

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