Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like any Deputy or public representative who operates a clinic or an office service, I know, because I do eight of them a week, that the vast majority of people who come in are those at the very sharp end of the housing crisis. Once woman I met more than a year ago rang me seven weeks ago today to tell me that her beloved dog died peacefully in her arms that morning. While she was devastated and crying on the phone, she said to me during the conversation that it might now be easier for her to find another house or apartment because she is currently the victim of what we call no-fault eviction. I know it was seven weeks today because, coincidentally, she rang me at 9.15 this morning to say that she got the ashes of her dog yesterday and will now be able to bring those ashes of what was a beloved pet to her next home, which we will, hopefully, find for her very shortly.

That story illustrates just how important people's pets are to them. They are members of their families and they love them dearly. For many people who have to jump the many hurdles out there in terms of high rents, supply and finding a landlord or rental agency that will return a phone call and give you an interview or viewing, who say, "Well look, I have a pet, I have it for 10, 11 years, or six months, I love it", to then hear "Sorry, not happening", is a very real impediment and heartbreak for thousands of people and tenants out there. This Bill will provide practical solutions to that impediment.

It is similar to the issue of being able to dry clothes outside on a balcony. We all know what is at the root of this issue for prospective landlords; it is downright snobbery and classism at its very worst. Whether you have a long or short balcony you should be able to dry your clothes on it. What are we going to do? Are we going to try to encourage people to get tumble dryers? Not only is that climate hostile, they are expensive to use and in increasingly smaller apartment spaces, people do not have the room for them. People should be able to dry their clothes outside in the fresh air and not have to dry them inside on clothes horses with damp crawling down the walls and damp on children's school bags, as was stated in the House last night during a separate debate. Again, this Bill provides a solution to what is a very real impediment. That one really hurts because it is rooted in old-fashioned class snobbery that has to go.

I am happy that this Bill will be accepted. I hope these elements will be included and will not go into the netherworld of Opposition Bills that go out there and float somewhere around these Houses, never to be seen again.

We have to remove no-fault evictions and we need to do so straight away. If Housing for All is to work as the Government wants, this needs to be done straight away. The housing crisis, as we have learned over recent years, is in essence a tenancy crisis. The vast majority of people who find themselves homeless have been transitioned out of the rental market through no-fault evictions, rents they cannot afford or whatever flimsy excuse bad landlords are using to profit from their property, such as by putting it back on the market for a much higher rent or selling it on to an investment fund in a red-hot selling market.

What Deputy Bacik said is spot on. We need to skew housing policy back towards people who are living with roofs over their heads, whether they are paying rent, a mortgage or whatever. The Tánaiste's contribution in the House yesterday laid bare how those at the very top of the Government feel about the housing crisis and where their priorities lie. It is not with tenants. I do not think that is shared by the backbenchers of the three parties and may not be shared by some in Cabinet but it was certainly clear where the Tánaiste's priorities lie. We need to skew it back, put tenants first and keep them in their homes, and to supply affordable homes to ensure that no-fault evictions, or any evictions, are ended and we can end this housing crisis.

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