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

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 3, after line 31, to insert the following: “Grounds for termination by landlord

2.The Act of 2004 is amended—

(a) in the Table to section 34—

(i) by deleting paragraph 3, and

(ii) in paragraph 5, by substituting “, no reasonable measures can be taken to maintain the dwelling fit for human habitation during the refurbishment or renovation” for “in a way which requires the dwelling to be vacated for that purpose”,

and

(b) in section 35 by the substitution of the following for subsection (4):

“(4) In paragraph 4 of the Table the reference to a member of the landlord’s family is a reference to—

(a) a spouse or civil partner of the landlord, or

(b) a child (including a stepchild, foster child or adopted child) of the landlord.”.”.

The revised grouping seems to contain a huge number of amendments. I wish to speak in particular in support of the three amendments the Labour Party is putting forward, namely, amendments Nos. 3, 7 and 20. We are also supporting the amendments from other colleagues. The effect of our amendments would be to restrict the scope for no-fault evictions further. Amendment No. 3 would place a higher burden on the landlord to prove that there is no other way to renovate the property. We are conscious that the aim of this Bill is to ensure the scope of no-fault evictions will be limited beyond the temporary eviction ban. There should also be further restrictions on no-fault evictions. This is something we believe is essential in order to make the legislation more effective beyond the term in which the deferment is to take effect.

I listened carefully to what the Minister said. I welcomed his comments about the tenantin situscheme and the fact that he is looking to strengthen that. We heard last week from the Taoiseach that 650 houses had been purchased or were in the process of being purchased under that scheme across the country. Clearly that is still a very small number. It is therefore important that the duration of the eviction ban is used not only to afford renters breathing space but, as the Minister said, to afford the Government breathing space within which to bring forward more innovative strategies to tackle homelessness and to prevent evictions. Strengthening the tenant in situ scheme and strengthening the powers of local authorities to purchase properties are important measures to take during the duration of that eviction ban. I hope that will be the case. The Minister also said that the over-reliance on HAP and the private rental sector is not sustainable. Last year, €893 million, or nearly €1 billion, was spent by the State on HAP. I think that is the right figure, obtained by our housing spokesperson, Senator Rebecca Moynihan. That is clearly not sustainable investment by the State. It is simply paying private landlords. It symptomises a broken housing sector when such a large amount of money is being spent with no real return on investment by the State, other than a temporary deferral of homelessness. Renters are temporarily kept in rental properties rather than returning housing stock into State ownership.

The amendments we are putting forward, Nos. 3, 7 and 20, as well as the other amendments, seek to strengthen the protections for renters and restrict the scope for no-fault evictions and to ensure no-fault evictions will not be able to take place even beyond the duration of the eviction ban that this legislation is going to put in place. Amendment No. 7, for example, would give effect to enhanced support for those in rent arrears, as recommended by Threshold, and would also limit evictions on the grounds of overcrowding. As my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, said on Second Stage, it is clearly not ideal for people to live in overcrowded accommodation but we have to recognise the context of the housing crisis, or the housing disaster as our President has described it, and ensure we limit as far as possible any of the grounds for eviction. Beyond the temporary ban eviction, which is very welcome, and we welcome this Bill, we also want to strengthen protections for renters. We want to ensure we will not see no-fault evictions taking place. In other European countries, such evictions are heavily circumscribed. We want similar protections for renters built into our legislation to ensure more long-term protections.

See this speech in context