Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the comments of previous Deputies on the process around this. There should be time for all legislation we know is to come up for pre-legislative scrutiny. Too often with housing legislation the Minister seeks to waive that process. I put it to him the members of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage are all happy and willing to engage in thorough pre-legislative scrutiny of any Bills he wants to bring forward. I would encourage the Minister to work with us in future rather than try to bypass that process, as he has done in this case.

The single biggest achievement in stopping families going into homelessness since 2014, when there was a major increase in families and individual adults going into homelessness, has come in the past year when the ban on evictions was brought in as a result of Covid-19. That was the single biggest achievement.

If the Bill is passed without amendment, it will further reduce the protections for renters and increase the flow of families and individuals into homelessness. The level of protection for renters during a pandemic in Ireland will be the same as the level in many other European countries at all times. That is the only protection there will be.

I wish to raise a point with the Minister. Like other Deputies, including myself, I am sure he has examined the figures concerning the number of families that have entered homelessness during the past year and seen that the greatest decrease was during those months when the strongest levels of protection against eviction were in place for renters. I am also sure that he has noticed that the highest peak in the number of families being evicted into homelessness was in August 2020 after he lifted protections for renters. Why has he not realised the importance of these measures in protecting families from homelessness? I received a phone call today from someone who was working in this field. That person could not understand why the Minister and his Department, having seen the success of these measures in preventing homelessness, have not acted on them and tried to imbed them. What are needed are not further extensions, but reforms that will protect renters in the long term and bring us into line with other European countries. That is the approach that should be taken.

I have a difficulty with previous statements by the Minister regarding homelessness. When I was last in the Chamber with him, I asked whether the National Quality Standards Framework, NQSF, applied to all providers of emergency accommodation to renters who had been evicted into homelessness. He stated that it did, including to private providers. At a meeting of the housing committee the next day, however, Mr. Brendan Kenny of Dublin City Council confirmed that was not the case. Despite that, the Minister repeated in national media interviews a few weeks later that these standards applied to all providers, including private ones. Since then, "RTÉ Investigates" has confirmed that the NQSF is not applied to private providers. If the Minister would like to look at them, I have with me copies of inspection reports into homeless accommodation providers. They confirm that he was incorrect when he told the Dáil at the end of January that the NQSF applied to all providers. Will he read these reports and consider the difference between the report for a provider that is subject to the NQSF, which is ten pages long, and the report for a private provider, which is just one page long and only contains a small set of questions? Will he look into this detail and correct the Dáil record, given that he was wrong in January? I asked him previously to correct it. He should do the House that courtesy. We deserve correct information from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on these issues.

In terms of rent arrears, approximately one in three households in the private rented sector, or 70,000, had insufficient income prior to the pandemic to meet the minimum costs of living after meeting its housing costs. That figure comes from the ESRI. Rents are well in excess of what a mortgage would cost in most parts of the country and sharp increases in rent have been a key driver in increasing the number of people who have been evicted into homelessness since 2014. We need long-term measures that will address this issue and bring us into line with other EU countries.

The complex set of rules and limited protections that have been introduced have not worked well. There has been a low take-up. The Minister does not have to take just my word for that. Threshold has stated that uptake of the scheme established by the Act has been low and that it is complex and provides no significant solution to tenant indebtedness. Threshold is concerned that many private renters will not be able to avail of the protections afforded by the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 and could be lawfully evicted during the pandemic.

The Minister and his Department are taking a mistaken approach in section 2 of this Bill. The Simon Communities in Ireland have stated that the section does not live up to the Bill's preamble, as it allows some private renters to be evicted even at the peak of a Covid wave if they are in rent arrears, and that such a blanket removal of protection from a vulnerable group at this time of crisis is unnecessarily punitive. Will the Minister consider withdrawing section 2, which has been strongly criticised by organisations that work with renters and people who are experiencing homelessness?

We need to recognise that finding a new home during the pandemic has not become any easier over the past while and that removing these protections will lead to an increase in homelessness. Over the past year, homelessness figures show a strong correlation between decreases in the number of families becoming homeless and the introduction of protections for renters. The number at risk of homelessness is far greater than the small cohort of people who are registered for protection against eviction on grounds of rent arrears. We need to put in place solutions for this cohort of renters and their landlords and consider a combination of measures, for example, a rent arrears fund to help clear arrears.

The Minister is proposing a cut-off point of 12 July under the Bill. A later cut-off point would be much better, as it would give the Minister and the Department time to introduce much-needed long-term reforms and improvements in the sector. The Minister has committed to trying to improve conditions in the sector. The programme for Government makes that commitment as well. Why not start that work now instead of making rolling updates every few months?

Preventing homelessness is cost-effective. It also spares families and individuals the trauma of losing their homes and the negative consequences that flow from that. We know that shifting away from emergency responses and into protecting renters and long-term solutions, for example, long-term accommodation, is a much better use of resources. We also know that investing more in tenancy protection services, mediation, supports, debt resolutions and payment plans is a much better approach.

I urge the Minister to accept some of our amendments tomorrow so that we can improve the Bill. I urge him to take a long-term approach to improving security in this sector and driving down the number of people who are evicted into homelessness. I also urge him to update the Dáil record and withdraw his incorrect statement that the NQSF applies to all providers of emergency accommodation, including private ones, given that that is not the case. He should update the record.

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