Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the ability of landlords to cite as a reason for eviction their wish to move a family member into a property, all politicians will have seen abuse of this right. We have heard on many occasions of family members moved into a property and suddenly leaving after three, four or five months. I understand where Sinn Féin is coming from in proposing these amendments.

I debated this issue at length during the passage of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2017 and has reason to read over that debate. The Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, brought through the legislation which provides for co-living. At the time, it was argued that co-living accommodation would be aimed at hipsters and would be ideal for people moving to Dublin to work in the information technology sector for a year. I described co-living, as proposed in that legislation, as student accommodation for adults. To expect an adult to live for a long period in a co-living setting, which is one third the size of a one–bedroom apartment, is not acceptable. A number of planning applications for co-living developments have been submitted. One application is for a development with 220 bedrooms in Tallaght, which is not in the city centre. It has not been identified as accommodation for people who would be living in the city for only a year. It is a development for long-term accommodation. This has horrible implications for the future of Dublin. It is totally wrong. While I accept that co-living is not covered by this Bill, I will continue to raise the issue. This type of accommodation is the only option developers are offering people, certainly in the Dublin area, and that trend will spread to other cities. I support the amendments proposed by Sinn Féin.