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

I wish to again raise with the Taoiseach the housing crisis, which is a housing emergency, despite the Government's failure and refusal to declare it as such. In the lead-up to the important Raise the Roof rally on Saturday, which we in the Labour Party will support, along with many others in opposition, I wish to raise the real-world effects of this housing emergency in my constituency.

On Rathmines Road, in Dublin Bay South, tenants in 20 apartments across two houses are facing eviction. Many of them are paying in excess of €1,000 or €1,200 a month for a single-bedroom apartment. Some of them have lived there for more than ten years, while others have been there for 20 years. They are now facing eviction. Despite the Tyrrelstown agreement ruling, which apparently seeks to restrict mass evictions of this nature, the company that owns the property is using what can only be described as a legal loophole in section 35A of the Residential Tenancies Act to take these families' and individuals' homes away from them. Why? Because the company says the sale of the property would drop by 20% of its market value were the tenants kept in place and the landlord would endure undue hardship if that were the case. According to reports, the landlord in this case owns 70 apartments across the city and the most recent figures available show the company owned, in total, more than €20 million of investment property in 2019 - undue hardship indeed. Not too far away from Rathmines, more than 100 residents in Tathony House, Kilmainham, Dublin 8 have been served an eviction notice. Again, the landlord there has invoked section 35A.

We need to secure greater protection for renters in these situations. We need to ensure undue hardship for those who are renting - the families who are going to be put out of their homes as a result of these evictions - is what is prioritised in our laws, not the undue hardship provision for landlords. A home should not be a commodity.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach complained in the House that the Opposition is not providing constructive solutions and proposals to address the housing emergency. That is simply not the case for us in the Labour Party. In recent weeks, my colleague, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, our housing spokesperson, suggested the imposition of an eviction ban, which is now Government policy. We also suggested revising the income thresholds for social housing eligibility. Again, that is now Government policy.We suggested a vacant homes tax. Although it has been watered down, it is welcome to see that it is now Government policy.

This progress is welcome but I will offer two more constructive proposals. First, to protect vulnerable renters such as those in Rathmines and Kilmainham, will the Government take on the Labour Party’s Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill 2021 that we put before this House a year ago and which passed Second Stage without opposition from Government? It would give tenants better protections. Second, as I asked yesterday, will the Government use the term of the winter eviction ban to fund and strengthen the tenantin situscheme? Will it use the opportunity to buy back housing and shrink the private rental sector to ensure greater protections for families and renters who are facing eviction?

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