Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I may not use the entirety of my allotted time but I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill on behalf of the Labour Party this afternoon in a debate that is long overdue. As remarked upon by Deputy Ó Broin, some representatives from Fine Gael were actively resisting this Bill up until recently even though it was clear to all of us that this type of legislation was needed. The very need for this Bill in the first place is a symptom of the State’s basic failing to house its own citizens and to house all of those others for whom the State has responsibility at present.

This is a symptom of the Government’s shocking over-reliance on a private rental sector and the logical conclusion of a policy that is being maintained and is leading to a situation where simply not enough social and affordable homes are being built and provided for those who need them.

Everyone is suffering from this broken housing model. These are young people, those going through separation and those on low pay. The knock-on effect of a broken housing model hits us all as parents and colleagues, and the public services often have to bear the cost of this broken system presided over by the Government.

Nowhere is this more true than in the situation that obtains in respect of HAP tenants, as alluded to by other colleagues and, time and again, not just in the context of this debate, but this morning also in the context of the People Before Profit debate on social and affordable housing. In a market where rents are constantly increasing, it is nearly impossible for HAP recipients to find alternative accommodation in the rental sector. Yet they are still subject to no-fault evictions for reasons of sale, renovation or the moving in of family by the landlord. The definition of family here is very broadly defined.

The Simon Community recently reported that there are no properties currently available for rent within normal HAP rates. As an experience, that is not unfamiliar to all of us operating in our constituencies representing and advocating for people who are HAP tenants and who may lose their tenancy. This results in HAP tenants becoming homeless upon receipt of notices to quit being issued by the private landlords. Things are now so stark that even this Government knows that an eviction ban is necessary to prevent homelessness figures from skyrocketing this winter.

Let us be clear, our homelessness services and emergency accommodation services simply cannot cope. What we saw in Dublin Airport last weekend is unforgivable for a wealthy, liberal, open democracy. We must also be clear that it is not those fleeing war in Ukraine who are causing our housing crisis. Let us be very clear on that point. The housing crisis is being caused by a problem being compounded by bad Government policy; a policy it seems incapable of ditching.

Last month we saw a record high of homeless people, with some 10,800 individuals seeking emergency accommodation. Among these are 3,220 children, and older people with complex health needs who never envisaged themselves to be in this situation.

We also have workers who work for the emergency services who sleep in their own facilities at work with no idea of where to go. We have come across these situations of people who are working for the State. This is completely extraordinary and is the reality behind the numbers. These are real people living in an uncertain and often miserable situation with consequences both now and in the future.

As the Labour Party has pointed out, an eviction ban alone will not solve the homelessness crisis. Instead, it needs to be paired with adequate long-term preventative measures including limiting the grounds that allow landlords to evict tenants as per our Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill, which we debated a number of months ago, by reducing reliance on the volatile market of private landlordism, and by establishing a strong public housing system yet again. We cannot apply just another short-term sticking plaster until the show moves on. The media and others may get fixated on the next scandal. There is always a scandal down the road and cases which are difficult to consider but many of those 10,000-odd people will still be in the same boat next week. The measures in this Bill will certainly prevent those who are at risk of becoming homeless from doing so but will not make a single unit available on a long-term basis for anybody.

That is why the Labour Party is deeply concerned that the grounds for eviction are not strong or strict enough in the original Act. What we have before us today is not a long-term solution and is simply a stay of execution for many tenants who are at risk.

We know and they know that, when March rolls around, the wide range of reasons for which tenants can be evicted will again be exercised by landlords. The Minister of State knows this, as do we all, but we sometimes prefer to cover our ears, close our eyes and simply hope that the problem will go away. As asset prices continue to rise - and house prices are continuing to rise albeit at a slower rate than over the past three years - the reality is that landlords will try to realise the value of their assets and sell their properties. That is basic economics. It is how this works.

We need actions rather than words. It is vital that we take steps to restrict the grounds for eviction. As demanded in the Labour Party amendments we will debate later on, we must prevent landlords from evicting tenants for reasons of sale unless the tenant in situand the local authority have been offered the property first. My colleague, the Labour Party housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan, and the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage have been very clear that, when the RTB is notified of an eviction, the local authority should also be notified to ensure clarity on the situation and the demand in each local authority area. It is incredible that this connectedness is not in place and that these systems are not networked properly.

Evictions on the grounds of overcrowding fail to recognise the nuance of the housing crisis. While it is never ideal for people to live in overcrowded accommodation, an overcrowded home is better than no home at all. Tenants who were forced by the inaction of the State on the housing crisis to reside in overcrowded accommodation should not be evicted and left homeless.

Landlords should only be allowed to evict a tenant to move in family members in circumstances where they are direct family members such as spouses and children. We have seen shocking abuse of this measure in Ireland with distant third cousins and imaginary nieces being touted as new tenants, thereby providing landlords with a reason to evict long-standing tenants to free up their properties.

Fundamentally, the only way to end this vicious cycle is to increase the State supply of social and affordable housing. Not only is this a moral imperative, as report after report has shown, it is the right thing to do financially and economically. However, as it stands, there are more than 60,000 households being socially supported within the private sector. This makes no sense. Rather than investing today to solve the problems of the future, we throw good money after bad on temporary measures such as HAP, income supports and emergency accommodation. A lot of temporary measures that were introduced a number of years ago have now been embedded in the system and are proving to be very costly. Of course, we would like to see HAP, RAS and other measures only used on a temporary basis at a time when there is sufficient housing to meet the needs of people across the country.

Let us take HAP as the obvious example. As rental markets spiral, HAP rates have to increase to keep up, with those State payments ending up in the hands of landlords. It is more cost-effective for the State to acquire the housing in which the HAP tenants are in siturather than to pay out these perpetual subsidies and supports. This is a pure waste of taxpayers' money in the long term. It is totally bonkers. The direction of travel needs to change. Tenants should be in social housing, which provides increased security of tenure as they are no longer at the mercy of landlords. Even the targets in Housing for All will again be missed this year.

We need to return to a public housing model and the idea that this country could build necessary accommodation, even at times when we did not have the resources we have now. That would bring much more stability to our country, improve growth and stabilise our society. The Minister of State knows as well as anybody how much focus is now on housing, which has become a real issue across our society, and on the question of whether the political system can resolve this problem. There is a real problem, and a real question is being asked of this Government. To date, the performance has been incredibly disappointing and less than we would expect.

In addition to an extension of the eviction ban, we urge this Government to reduce red tape in respect of the tenants in situscheme and to prioritise the acquisition of housing by local authorities. The Labour Party will be proposing amendments to the Bill, which the Minister of State will have already seen, to ensure that these kinds of mechanisms to end homelessness are joint implemented alongside the overdue eviction ban. Failure to do so will see homelessness figures rise dramatically once the ban elapses at the end of March and evictions on a staggered basis become the reality again in the middle of next year. I do not believe the Minister of State or any of us want us to be back in that situation next March, discussing another eviction crisis. If we can resolve the issue now, let us do so. However, it will require a refocusing of Housing for All and more resources for social and affordable housing. That is the trick. That is how this will be resolved. Let us not wait until more children, elderly people and vulnerable groups are shamefully put out on the streets of cities and towns across this country.

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