Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak specifically to amendment No. 8 in this grouping, which seeks to remove the overcrowding exemption from the deferred notice to quit due dates. We were all expecting that there would be exemptions. We have all made very clear that if somebody is wilfully not paying their rent, is damaging the property or engaging in antisocial behaviour, they should not get the protections other renters will get following the passage of this Bill. Many of us were surprised when we saw that ground No. 2 in the table in section 34 of the Residential Tenancies Act was included in the exemptions. This afternoon, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, said this ground is hardly ever used. He is correct in that. It is a very rarely used provision. However, if the landlord has not issued a notice to quit on the grounds of overcrowding prior to the enactment of this legislation, you would really have to ask why they would do so afterwards. There are two consequences to this inclusion, which I think are unintended. That is why I am urging the Minister to accept this amendment either now or when he has a second chance to consider it in the Seanad. First, many of the families we are talking about are families with large numbers of children. They would predominantly be Travellers, Roma or families from a number of African nationalities. The Minister knows that if these families enter into emergency accommodation, they can spend three or four years there, or more. Why would we put them in that set of circumstances at this point in time?

Landlords who have a very limited volume of overcrowding in their property, who would otherwise have issued a notice to quit based on sale of the property or some other grounds but are not allowed do so, will now be permitted do evict under this provision, which is clearly not the Minister's intention. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, today made an unfortunate remark when he suggested that there was some link between this provision and fire safety. That is not the case. Wherever there is a fire safety risk to tenants in a property, that is a matter for the fire brigade and for fire safety enforcement, as the Minister well knows. As the social housing waiting lists are so long and because families wait many years for their social housing allocation to come through, families will start off in a rental property of a particular size but may grow over a period of time. Therefore, there is no need for the overcrowding exemption in this legislation. If somebody allows a sublet contrary to what the tenancy agreement permits, that can be dealt with more generally. I ask the Minister to please not put large families at risk of notices to quit over the winter period where there are no grounds for such notices to be issued in real terms. I am urging the Minister to remove that reference in section 2 of the Bill.

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