Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his appointment. This is important legislation in affording protection to tenants. Being a tenant can be stressful at the best of times, particularly where the supply of accommodation is limited, but at this time we also have a health crisis. These protections are important, as are those enacted for tenants by the previous Government.

As previous speakers stated, there are rogue landlords and rogue tenants.Thankfully, the majority are good landlords and law abiding tenants. My wife is an accidental landlord as she is an only child and both her parents have passed away. I would like to think she is a good landlord and, thankfully, she has had good tenants. We only hear about the minority of difficult cases. That is understandable because the system works well in general. Where it does not work well is where the difficulties arise.

I agree with Senator Seery Kearney regarding people on the housing list. Many people contact my office who are not sure if they are on the list and who were on the list and have since changed their address and wonder if they are still on the list. We have added complications in Galway city and county because we have two lists. Some people who come from the city may have a preference to live in the county or vice versa, which can cause problems.

Will the Minister consider the issue of former commercial properties? I know of cases where it is very difficult and expensive for people who have a good property that was commercial and is ready to go but the process is extremely convoluted and costly. I know an individual who has spent thousands to reach to the stage where an application to convert a property's use has been rejected again by the city council.

There are approximately 3,500 HAP tenancies in Galway county. A small number of landlords have issues with their HAP tenants. One individual who contacted me and other public representatives has not been paid rent since last November. The landlord has gone through the process, has secured a valid notice of termination for failure to pay rent and antisocial behaviour prior to Covid-19 and the tenants have received a termination order. That landlord has not received any money from Galway County Council. The Minister has been approached about this case. The landlord has been out of pocket since last November and the tenants are still in the property. I ask that the Minister examine this case.