Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The key message for today is we need a winter eviction ban. We have seen it in the report from Threshold launched today, which was unequivocal. It outlined that the most pressing issue facing those renting in the private sector in Ireland is the termination of their tenancy. The fear of termination of tenancy, of eviction, is the biggest fear confronting renters. With over 10,000 people on the homeless list we know just how serious that fear is. Of course, the second fear of renters is of rent increases. Rents have increased by almost 80% in the past decade and risen by 90% in Dublin. Renters are worried they will lose their home through eviction. We need to see urgent action from the Government on this.

Threshold has recommended the removal of no-fault eviction from the Residential Tenancies Acts. Twelve months ago, the Labour Party put forward in this Chamber the Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill which would have created, among other things, far greater security of tenure for renters by restricting the situations in which a tenant can be evicted, along with providing for better quality-of-life measures for tenants. Had the Government taken on our Bill this time last year, families who rent would have been guaranteed a safe home this winter but so many renters now do not have that security. I am conscious that my constituency has more than double the national average of households in private rental accommodation. This is a very serious issue. President Michael D. Higgins was right to call the housing situation "a disaster".

No single section of society is insulated from this disaster. It spans age cohorts. In my constituency I have supported pensioners facing eviction due to unaffordable spiralling rents. Losing your home late in life is unquestionably appalling for somebody facing into older age. It is a social, economic and public health issue but it is a particularly terrible situation for daoine óga na hÉireann. Our youngest generation are facing a future where they have no certainty or security about where they are going to be able to live. My own office has taken to trawling daft.ie and private advertisements to assist students who are thinking of dropping out of third level education because they cannot find anywhere to live. It is devastating to have to tell students and their parents there is simply nowhere available. I commend the Union of Students in Ireland on co-ordinating a student walkout this morning at 11.11 a.m. One of its key points of protest is the abject lack of accommodation for those attending further or higher education. The Government must listen to these students. The market has failed to deliver on accommodation for those renting and seeking to rent to attend college.

Will the Government impose an immediate and temporary eviction ban for this winter? It can be done within the terms of our Constitution if it is carried out in a way that is proportionate. There are precedents for doing so. Will the Tánaiste concede this needs to be done now?

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