Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

About six Bills have already been passed to protect tenants' rights generally. In particular, the Tyrrelstown amendment provides that where a landlord proposes to sell ten or more units in a single development at the same time, that sale is subject to the existing tenants remaining in situ, other than in exceptional circumstances.

The Deputy, to be fair to him, has raised the situation in St. Helen's Court involving five tenants or families, which is unacceptable. Under existing constitutional frameworks, there is a balance to be struck in terms of how far we can go in legislation. Any proposals that would just remove a landlord's right to terminate a tenancy could be subject to and would carry the risk of constitutional challenge. We have asked the housing commission to prioritise consideration of a constitutional amendment regarding a referendum on housing in respect of these issues. Fundamentally, that is where we have to go to ensure that situations like this one do not happen in the manner that it is happening.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has told the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that it will do everything it possibly can to ensure the five families do not fall into homelessness as a result of what is transpiring with the landlord in this case. The commission on housing is looking at issues around tenure, standards, sustainability and quality of life. As the Deputy will know, the Government has provided for tenancies of unlimited duration through the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021, which means that all new tenancies created on or after 11 June 2022 would become tenancies of unlimited duration after six consecutive months of occupation under the tenancy without a valid notice of termination having been served.

Anything that can possibly be done, we are doing within the legal constraints to protect tenants as much as we possibly can. We have committed in the programme for Government to a referendum on housing. That work is being prioritised by the housing commission. It is fundamental to the core issue the Deputy raised.

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