Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I rise to raise a topic that has been raised by a number of Senators, that is, the stay on evictions and the greater and general topic of housing. I agree with Senator Gavan that it would be no harm to have a discussion on housing in this House. That would be informative for everyone.

I welcome the Minister's decision to introduce a stay on evictions over the winter period. It is a sincere and well thought-out provision by the Minister and the Government. However, it will be important to follow on at the back end of that stay. Landlords who have an enshrined right in this country to be in charge of their own properties and homes are having this law forced on them, for however a short a time. If we are going to introduce a stay on evictions, we must work with landlords and property owners. The detail seems to be sparse although I understand there may be further clarification later. For argument's sake, I will say there are some tenants who are not playing ball at present and others who will not play ball because they know they are going to secure a house until next year. That leaves landlords with very little or no recourse. To go to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to try to get a tenant out of a property if there is a problem takes a year at the best of times. I am curious about what guarantees are available and what back-up we are going to give to landlords.

Fianna Fáil previously proposed a tax break for long-term leases. I do not where that proposal has gone but it made a lot of sense. I have spoken to my party colleagues about it. I mentioned more than a year ago the tsunami of sales that were coming. I mentioned that to my colleagues in the House approximately three months ago. I can see it happening at first hand. It is having a knock-on effect and causing a problem. Each and every day, as the Leader will know from attending clinics, more people are presenting in cases where their houses are being sold and they are going to be left homeless, for want of a better word, or at least without their current home in a short timeframe. That is something we need longer to consider. We must engage and deal with landlords. Putting our heads in the sand and running landlords out of the market is something we can do if we want to but we must have a proper strategy to do it.