Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment and legislation are good news. This is a good news story. The reason one finds Government Senators addressing the plight of landlords is generally because the Government is advancing legislation which advances rights for tenants. As a consequence, the Opposition says it is not enough. We must stand up and say a balance needs to be struck. That is the obligation of government. We cannot just say let us have it all free or whatever. It is disingenuous to consistently speak as though nothing is being advanced by the Government that protects anybody's rights.

This is good news for two groups of people or sets of tenants. The first are the people who have already invoked the declaration and fall under its protections. They will get a letter and the opportunity to have a further extended period of protection. That they have a longer period is exceptionally good news for them. Hopefully, the economic problems and all the other factors bringing about these emergency periods will have abated by the time that period expires. We will be optimistic on that. The second group is the people who need to invoke the declaration on the RTB website. The website is not bureaucratic. The documents are laid out and easily downloadable. The officials in the Department have been exceptional in responding to our questions and concerns, such as whether the five days should be longer. We have had this discussion backwards and forwards. The document the tenant downloads has a number of parts. We are assured the new document in response to this legislation will have additional templates, as the Minister has said. One document will be available containing everything a tenant needs and the two different notifications to the landlord and the RTB can be sent in one envelope on the day. The same applies to the landlord and the tenant must furnish the landlord with the true copy of the declaration in any event.

As to the idea that people need longer, the process is being made simple. To suggest otherwise is misleading and untrue because it is straightforward. There is already an appreciation that people are in chaos. They have a horror and fear of homelessness. There is already and appreciation of that and, hence, the system has been made as straightforward and simple as possible to assist that. The documentation has been made available.

The five-day period is sufficient. We raised that as a concern. It is sufficient because tenants download the document and send it there and then. It is not that they must go off and do something else; they do not. They fill in the document there and then, put it in an envelope and send it in. No other mechanisms are required. The process is straightforward and an extended period is not needed.