Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

If well-being and quality of life are to mean anything, they must surely mean that people have some security about the place where they live.

I do not see how someone can possibly have either of those things if they do not have security about where they live. The Government's decision to lift the eviction ban means approximately 750,000 people in rented accommodation in this country have now confirmed they will have no security, and many of them will face eviction into homelessness and have nowhere to go.

Earlier, Deputy Duncan Smith made the comparison with Europe, where if a landlord is selling or if there is no fault on the part of the tenant, people cannot be evicted. We believe that should also be the case here. The Taoiseach said that would cause us problems because we cannot do it retrospectively. I want to draw that out from him. Is he saying that from now on, he is in favour of that principle and that, while we might have to deal with a legacy, in future we are going to give security to all tenants in the private rented sector and the Government will legislate to that effect? I doubt he is saying that, but that was the inference one could draw and that is what should happen. Why is it that anybody in private rented accommodation should not enjoy the security and well-being of knowing that if they do nothing wrong and pay their rent, they will not end up being evicted? Why should they not enjoy the security that other people in society enjoy? Will the Taoiseach please explain that to me? Currently, they do not have that security. The Damocles sword of potential homelessness is constantly hovering over their head, and for many of them, that sword will fall in the next few months.

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