Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The temporary ban on no-fault evictions is simply a sticking plaster on the open wound of the housing disaster. Instead of treating that wound, the Government is abruptly ripping that plaster off, leaving thousands of people exposed to eviction and the threat of becoming homeless. I welcome the Bill and the Social Democrats will be supporting it. We would like to see a later date and, indeed, we believe lifting the ban on no-fault evictions should take place in the context of bringing in full no-fault evictions, which is the European norm. Before I get into the substance of the Bill, I appeal to the Minister to treat this with the absolute seriousness it deserves. That means when these issues are being discussed not coming into the Chamber and spending most of his time attacking Sinn Féin or other Opposition parties. I urge him to spend his time telling us what he is doing to tackle homelessness. Renters, people at risk of homelessness and people who are homeless deserve this. The Minister should spend his time in that way. He should not reduce this to some sort of Punch and Judy show back and forth by spending most of his time attacking people in the Opposition. He should take responsibility for his role and tell us what he is doing to fix this incredibly serious crisis.

The tenantin situscheme is one of the proposals the Minister brought forward to deal with this. Deputies from across the House have raised a number of serious issues with the tenant in situscheme and I had been hoping the Minister would have addressed some of them in detail in his comments this evening. He has not done that. It is a pity. All of us have been hearing from renters and from landlords facing lots of problems trying to access the scheme. Before the decision was announced not to extend the eviction ban, the Minister had told the Oireachtas housing committee that the targets for the tenant in situscheme this year would be for 1,500 homes. He said that these targets were simply baselines, they were minimum targets and they were to be exceeded. Since then, when the decision not to extend the eviction ban was announced, the Government announced 1,500 tenantin situhomes as the target for this year with some fanfare, as if this was some sort of new proposal when it had already been announced by the Minister. Since then, the Government has yet again announced 1,500 tenant in situas the target and repeated what the Minister has been saying all along, that it is a minimum that should be exceeded. We have had three iterations of exactly the same target with nothing new in it. With all that huffing, puffing and bluster we have not seen that target increase and it needs to increase. The Minister can smile all he wants, but this is deadly serious. There are people who are worried and sick in the pit of their stomachs about what is going to happen to them. The Minister can smile it off all he wants.

We need what is the situation in most European countries, where people who pay their rent cannot be evicted from their home. That is what applies in most European countries. That is what happens in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. What is wrong with the rental sector in all those countries that they are able to do this? Why can we not do it? Some of these countries have much bigger private rental sectors than us, ones that are thriving, yet they have better protections for renters who pay the rent. The conversation in those countries around evictions is totally different. They are not talking about no-fault evictions for people who pay their rent. Their conversation is about what measures they can put in place to help renters who fall behind in their rental payments so they are not evicted, and how they can protect people from being evicted into homelessness. Some of those countries do not allow someone to be evicted into homelessness even if they have fallen behind in their rental payments. The state, the government and the local authorities help renters if they have fallen behind. They do not put the whole burden on landlords. They help with payment plans and all of these things. That is the kind of conversation we should be having to reduce the number of people who are becoming homeless.

The Minister has not been listening to the Opposition on this. He has not been listening to housing experts or to those who are working with homeless people and supporting them. I would hope he would listen, at least, to renters. I want to read him a few direct, personal testimonies from renters who are worried sick. They have posted on uplift.ie.

Sinéad from Dublin says:

I am renting this house for over 12 years with my two teenage children. We are being evicted in October. My whole life is changed. We have nobody to turn to. We are going to be homeless.

Eileen says:

My mother is due to be evicted in April. She is broken, anxious, and fearful of the unknown. At the age of 50 and on her own, what is she supposed to do? Mental health problems, back problems and I'm only in a bedsit so can't take her in. Where will she go?

Tony says:

I am 68 [...] and renting for over 10 years. Mine is a no-fault eviction due in April. Of approximately 1,600 houses in [the town where I live], almost 1,000 are second homes, occupied for perhaps one month each year. Of the 26 homes in my estate, four are lived in year-round. The rest sit empty. I have little doubt that will happen to my home too.

Rachel says:

My older brother was made homeless because of a house fire. He's been on the housing list for years. He's had to resort to squatting rather than face the streets. I can't put him up as my family is already in an overcrowded situation with three adults and a toddler in a two-bedroomed house. My younger brother got his eviction notice a couple of weeks ago. We were all waiting on tender-hooks to see what way the government would vote on the eviction ban. Now we know. They voted for my younger brother to be evicted and now I'll have two homeless brothers instead of one.

John says:

There are very few rental properties in Donegal. Any available are unaffordable. Alongside the mica problem and rising interest rates, finding a home is near impossible. Reliable families who pay their rent are being made homeless.

Marie says:

I'm due to be evicted on the 1st of September. I've emailed hundreds of landlords. My nerves are shattered. I've been put on antidepressants as this is driving me insane.

Lorraine says:

I'm single parent with a 20-year-old daughter with autism. We have nowhere to go if our eviction is enforced.

Sarah says:

I'm facing eviction due to my landlord selling in order to cash in on rising house prices. I've a good job and I pay my rent.

Sharon says:

I am feeling very scared. I cannot sleep. I have nowhere to go and I am on an invalidity pension. I have been living here for 11 years with my husband and son. I feel sick every time I hear the news. Government, if you are listening to this do not throw us out onto the streets and under the bus.

Marie says:

We have been renting in the same location for 16 years and are at risk of losing our home. We cannot find anything we can afford and honestly I do not know what we are going to do.

Those are some of the voices of renters asking the Government to take a different approach. All they are asking the Government to do is to do what is done in most European countries. Can it accept the principle that renters who pay their rent should not face eviction? That is the humane situation that applies in most of our neighbouring countries. Why can that not apply here? Why can the Government not take a different approach and remove the worry, stress and trauma from those renters? Instead of spending time in here attacking the Opposition, can it spend time answering that question? That is what people who are affected by this want. It is affecting them in the gut of their stomach. People are extremely worried about what is going to happen to them, their families and their children. They want to hear why the Government cannot do that. If it is not going to do it, what is it doing? Is it lifting heaven and earth to stop them becoming homeless? They do not want to hear the Government batting back and forth and giving out about other political parties. They want to hear what the Minister is doing to stop them becoming homeless and address this.

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