Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Members who spoke. I genuinely appreciate the valuable responses that have been made, as the Acting Chairman noted.It is important that we have this debate. I acknowledge the frustration with the speed of the Bill's progression. We offered extensive oral and written briefings and carried them out with the joint committee. Common threads in the contributions that have been made are normality and certainty. It is very difficult to have full normal parliamentary mechanisms in a pandemic when we rely on the statutory Office of the Attorney General providing advice to us to protect the Constitution and we implement legislation on foot of this advice. Timelines can be constrained. It is very difficult, given that the Covid-19 virus has an uncertain trajectory, to predict the future.

Before I address the amendments, I want to point out there is a danger of conflating the emergency periods. People are misreading one key point. We have to be very clear that the 5 km rule is under different legislation, the Residential Tenancies Act 2020. The Bill has nothing to do with that. The Bill is about protecting those who have run into rental arrears through Covid. It offers protection under the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020. It is a different Act based solely on an economic impact. This is the key issue to get across. This is what we are doing with the Bill.

I cannot accept Amendments Nos. 1, 2, 7 to 13, inclusive, or 15 to 18, inclusive, which seek to increase the proposed extension in the Bill of the emergency period under the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 from three months by varying lengths to provide an extension of either six months or eight and a half months, ending on 13 October or 31 December 2021, respectively.

The amendments also propose consequential amendments to other dates within the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020, which correspond with the various expiry dates proposed by the Opposition for the emergency period under the Act.

Section 9(1) of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 defines an "emergency period" as from 11 January 2021 to 12 April 2021, during which the enhanced tenancy protections under that Act apply for tenants in arrears, subject to conditions and procedural requirements. Section 1 of this Bill, in paragraph (a), proposes to extend the expiry date of the emergency period from 12 April 2021 to 12 July 2021.

In line with the advice of the Office of the Attorney General, the Government seeks to limit as much as possible any interference with the constitutionally protected property rights of landlords. It is the hope of the Government that the situation for tenants will have improved by 12 July and that there will be no need for the enhanced tenancy protections contained in the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020, thereafter. Covid-19 has brought about much uncertainty. The Government's proposed three-month extension to the application of enhanced tenancy protections under the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 aims to complement our wider efforts to suppress the spread of Covid-19 throughout the country. None of us could have foreseen the fatal trajectory of the Covid-19 virus.

Paragraphs (b) to (d) of section 1 update various dates from April 2021 to July 2021 to reflect the extended emergency period. The proposed amendments to the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 in the Bill provide for the enhanced protections for tenants, subject to conditions and procedural requirements under that Act, to continue to apply from 13 April 2021 to 12 July 2021 if they have been economically impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and consequently are unable to meet their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Acts to pay the rent due and are at risk of tenancy termination. During this time, relevant tenants will be safeguarded from eviction and rent increase.

Paragraph (b) of section 1 extends the eligibility expiry date from 12 April 2021 to 12 July 2021 for tenants to qualify as a relevant person within the meaning of section 10(6) of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020.If this Bill is passed, a "relevant person" means a tenant unable to comply with his or her obligations to pay rent due in respect of a tenancy because he or she is, or was at any stage, between 1 August 2020 to 12 July 2021: in receipt of, or entitled to receive, illness benefit for Covid-19 absence; or in receipt of, or entitled to receive, the temporary wage subsidy or any other social welfare payment or State support paid as a result of loss of earnings due to Covid-19. This includes the rent supplement or a supplementary welfare allowance. Paragraph (c) extends the eligibility expiry date from 12 April 2021 to 12 July 2021 for landlords to qualify as a "relevant person" within the meaning of section 11(6) of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020.

Pursuant to this amendment, a "relevant person" means a landlord who is, or was at any stage, between 1 August 2020 and 12 July 2021: in receipt of, or entitled to receive, illness benefit for Covid-19 absence; or in receipt of, or entitled to receive, the temporary wage subsidy or any other social welfare payment or State support paid as a result of loss of earnings due to Covid-19.

Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of section 1 of the Bill substitutes paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 12 of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 to: provide that the earliest termination date that can be specified for a tenant protected under that Act is 13 July 2021, extended from 13 April 2021; and makes a technical reference to a new subsection (1A) to be inserted into section 12 of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 by section 1 of the Bill. Subparagraph (ii) inserts a new subsection (1A) into section 12 of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020.

The new subsection (1A) of section 12 applies, as per paragraph (c) of that subsection, to a notice of termination grounded on rent arrears and served on a tenant during the emergency period specifying a termination date that falls on or after 13 April 2021 and before 13 July 2021, that is, critically, it falls during the three-month extension provided under this Bill. Paragraph (a) of the new subsection (1A) of section 12 provides that, subject to paragraph (b) of that subsection, if the tenant is protected by the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 and subsection (1A) applies in his or her case, the specified termination date shall be deemed to be 13 July 2021. This measure provides the benefit of the enhanced protections to relevant tenants until 13 July 2021. Paragraph (b) of the new subsection (1A) of section 12 provides that if the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 protections cease to apply in relation to a relevant tenant, the protections under paragraph (a) shall also cease to apply ten days thereafter. This affords a grace period for tenants to find alternative accommodation.

Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (d) of section 1 of this Bill provides a technical amendment to paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 12 of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 to update the deemed termination date from 13 April 2021 to 13 July 2021 in respect of a tenant who was served a notice of termination grounded on rent arrears prior to 11 January 2021, either specifying a termination date that falls between 11 January 2021 and 12 April 2021, or with a deemed termination date that falls between 11 January 2021 and 12 April 2021, by virtue of section 5(4) of the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020.