Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, if I may. I thank the Acting Chairperson. I appreciate that. This amendment is very important. I am sorry I missed the grouping. I made the point on Second Stage of the Bill, and to the Taoiseach when he was before the House last Thursday for statements, that the term "tenancies of indefinite duration" should not be used if sufficient protection is not provided to tenants. Doing so is disingenuous and dishonest. Essentially, how can the Government use the term "tenancies of indefinite duration" when it refuses to protect renters in the overwhelming majority of eviction cases and cases of notices to quit?We all know what they are. According to the RTB, 70% of all notices to quit are for sale of the property and for use of the property by a landlord or a family member. If the Government wants tenancies of indefinite duration and if we are serious about protecting renters, we must get rid of those paragraphs in the table to which we refer in the amendments. We must remove paragraph 3, that is, on the sale of property, and paragraph 4, which relates to the use of property by a landlord or a landlord's family member. Paragraph 3 is the biggest cause of homelessness, especially family homelessness. It has been driving the numbers of homeless people back up since the ban on evictions was ended. In that context, the amendment proposes to get rid of the sale-of-property and use-by-family-member provisions. I thank the Acting Chair for indulging me.