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

The Labour Party very much welcomes the fact that the Government is moving to introduce the winter eviction ban or at least the deferment of termination dates. Many of us in opposition have been pressing for that for some time. I also support the amendments put forward in this grouping. At their most basic, what they seek to do is to ensure that an effective eviction ban will be in place for longer because the longer we can uphold the eviction ban legally and within the terms of the Constitution and the more we can limit the scope of any exemptions to it, the more households we can keep out of homelessness. Given there are now more than 10,500 homeless individuals, of whom 3,000 are children, it is clearly long past time we sought to address the Government's failed policy of over-reliance on the private rental sector, which is the underlying cause of the housing crisis. The Bill, while welcome, represents only a part of the overall package of measures needed to address the more long-term issues.

Like my colleagues, I am conscious that we have a shortened time in which to debate these amendments. The Labour Party has proposed amendments that seek to strengthen the protection for renters and limit the scope of exemptions to the eviction ban in the Bill. I am conscious we may not get to those amendments and I will not speak for long on this group of amendments because I want to ensure there is time for contributions on all the amendments. I support the amendments in this group. We are all conscious of the need to abide by the terms of the Constitution but nobody thinks the homelessness and housing crises will be addressed in the immediate term and, therefore, it makes sense to extend the timeframe for the application of the legislation. It would also give greater clarity to households and renters who are currently unclear about whether, and when, their notices to quit will take effect. The day after the Government made the announcement of its intention to introduce this legislation, I received correspondence, as many of us did, from renters in my constituency telling me it would give them breathing space. One renter told me that his family of three is facing a notice to quit that will take effect on 1 February. That notice to quit has been issued. He is hopeful that this legislation will provide him and his family with breathing space. Even with income available to them to pay up to €3,000 rent per month in the Dublin area, they simply cannot find any accommodation to rent. I know the Simon Community and others have pointed out the lack of any accommodation available in the Dublin area. There were 700 applications for one property my constituent sought to rent.

As he said, it is Lotto odds to try to get accommodation to rent now in Dublin. The Labour Party put forward the Residential Tenancies (Tenants Rights) Bill which would have addressed some of the issues here on a more long-term basis, in seeking to ensure greater security of tenure, that enhanced supports are available for those renting, and to limit the scope of exemptions to ensure that tenants cannot be evicted for spurious reasons. The Minister did not oppose the Bill at that point and indicated that he would support some of the provisions in it. I appeal to him again to ensure more protections for renters and ask that he would support us in moving this Bill forward further. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

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