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

Everything must be done to protect tenants and we are doing that through a variety of legislation and so forth. The Deputy asked about St. Helen's Court in Dún Laoghaire and landlords issuing notices to vacate to five HAP tenants at that location. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is working with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to ensure the five remaining households - three singles and two families - do not fall into homelessness as a result of their tenancies ending at St. Helen's Court. Viewings of available homes have been facilitated by the placefinder services and eligible households have been provided with access to the choice-based letting systems. Two of the five families have recently been offered or are due to be offered alternative accommodation imminently. The Department has advised that recent court procedures taken by the property owner to repossess the properties was adjourned. That is the existing position.

The Deputy knows the HAP programme is State assistance to provide for social housing. Since the Government came to office two years ago we have ramped up and will continue to ramp up the provision of social housing through direct builds. We want to create a much larger stock of social housing in the country, with a target this year of 9,000 social housing units between approved social housing bodies and the local authorities. That is key to rebalancing the number of tenants on HAP compared with those in local authority housing. We want more people in approved social housing body rentals and local authorities and in cost rental units, which will be well below market levels.

Housing for All was launched last September and very significant progress has been made with 35,000 new commencements, as I said the largest number since 2008. A number of measures have also been introduced under the Residential Tenancies Act with the objective of improving security of tenure for tenants. For example, the Tyrrelstown amendment provides that where a landlord proposes to sell ten or more units in a single development at the same time, the sale would be subject to the existing tenants remaining in situother than in exceptional circumstances. That aims to strike a balance between landlords' constitutionally protected rights to sell their property and achieve a fair return on investment with a tenant's right to security of tenure. It provides security of tenure in the interests of the common social good.

The Housing Commission that is now established is examining matters such as tenure, standards, sustainability and quality-of-life issues in the provision of housing. It is also examining wording for amendments to the Constitution with regard to the Government's commitment to hold a referendum on housing, which will be important in establishing a balance between security of tenure and the constitutional protection that currently exists.

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