Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Warfield and his colleagues for tabling this amendment. We discussed this issue at some length on Second Stage, when I outlined the position in this regard. Included in this important legislation is, as the Senator rightly said, the extension of protections for those worst affected by the impact of Covid-19. Those protections include a ban on evictions and a ban on rent increases up to January 2022, by way of seeking protection via self-declaration through the RTB to stipulate that one's income has been affected. For example, people may have been in receipt of social welfare during this time and at risk of eviction due to rent arrears.

The measures introduced must be proportionate as well. We must ensure that all aspects of legislation I introduce in this regard respect the tenant and the property owner and are legally robust.Having looked at the tabled amendment and understood the reason it was put forward, I cannot accept it. What I will say, and what I have said in the Dáil and in this House previously, is that if things take a turn for the worst, which we earnestly hope will not happen, and further measures are needed, I will come back with further protections should we need them. The measures in this Bill, coupled with everything else, will mean that tenants who have already sought protection will continue to be protected from eviction up to next January. It is open to others to seek those additional protections should they wish to do so.

The fact that the current measures are in place has sent a signal to the market. We discussed this at length before. The measures are working, thankfully. So far, we have seen - not to be complacent about it in any way, shape or form - a continued reduction in the number of people homeless, including last month. That is to be welcomed. I know everyone welcomes that, but we need to watch those rates very carefully. People who are, or are at risk of being, in rent arrears, have the emergency rent supplement payment available to them. It is a simplified process so people should not go into rent arrears if they have lost income. If they are on social welfare, the State is there to help with that. We are doing this through the emergency rent supplement payment.

I encourage tenants who are in difficulty to engage with the Residential Tenancies Board, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, and Threshold. The changes we agreed to and introduced last summer around rent arrears mean that when a tenant goes into arrears for the first time, the landlord's rent arrears letter must also be sent to the RTB, and following this the tenant will receive all the information required about the agencies that can help him or her. For the first time, we now know how many people are falling into rent arrears. We would not have known that if it were not for the passing of the Act.

I neglected to say to Senator Warfield when he mentioned the public information and rights campaign for tenants that we have done some of them. I have been engaging with Threshold and the RTB. On the passing of this legislation, there will be a further information campaign for the public. I would like to see it more widespread than it currently is. There are people who are still not aware of their rights and we must make sure that they are aware of them. Hopefully that explains the rationale as to why I am not in a position to accept this amendment.