Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for addressing the House on this issue.

I welcome the move by the Government to put in place this emergency provision and recognising the big impact that homelessness over the winter period has on people. I wish to take issue with a couple of points. First, the Minister of State has said that there are "constitutionally protected property rights" in terms of terminating a tenancy. There is a "constitutionally protected" right to private property that must be balanced against the common good. For decades, Governments have never been brave enough to take into account the common good aspect.

Senator Fitzpatrick raised the issue of having a constitutional referendum on the right to housing. I commend her, from the Fianna Fáil side of things, for pushing a referendum for a very long time. All official commentary I have heard from both civil servants and the Attorney General is that there is a "constitutionally protected" right to private property so that means one cannot have any balancing rights for tenants. I make no apology for thinking that one cannot terminate a tenancy on the basis of selling because that is the case in most European countries.That is a matter of tenant rights. If a person is getting into something such as providing people with a home, there are limits placed on that. That should mean a landlord is not allowed to evict on the basis of selling. For too long in Ireland, we have treated the rental market in a casual way. We see it as something people do for a very short time in their 20s when they share a house. The reality is that this affects families and children. That is evidenced by the 3,000 people in homeless accommodation now who were in long-term rental accommodation.

In particular, there are 60,000 households in this country that should not be in the private rental sector. That is the other reason I take issue with what the Minister of State said when he spoke about demonising landlords, and how they are the solution to the housing crisis. They are not the solution to the housing crisis. The State is the solution to the housing crisis. Those households and those children will always be in need of State-supported housing. They should not be there at the whim of the private rental sector, where we see large numbers of people getting out and selling up because they do not want to be landlords. Most people do not want to be landlords because most people look at housing as a home and not as an investment. I make no apology for that. It is not about demonising landlords. What it is doing, however, is standing up for the 20% of people who are living in the private rental sector and who deserve the right to a home as much as somebody who owns it.

I welcome the introduction of the eviction ban. We have proposed a number of amendments to try to improve it, particularly with regard to overcrowding. I received notice today that one of my amendments had been ruled out of order, namely amendment No. 5, which is related to the tenant in situ scheme. The reason given was that it would impose a cost on the Exchequer, which it will not. It is simply asking that when a tenancy is terminated, the RTB is notified, which is a very reasonable thing to do. We have had this in place since July. In this case, it says that when a tenancy is notified, the local authority should be notified. It allows the local authorities to plan the tenant in situscheme. Too many of us have been in situations where we have been contacted by somebody who has maybe one month to go on his or her tenancy, and the local authority only hears of it after that person has been looking for a couple of months and is not able to get access to accommodation. We really need to scale up the tenant in situscheme because we need to be taking those rental tenancies back into the State.

The State spent €853 million in 2021 on HAP tenancies. We are spending, on average, €1,900 per month on HAP tenancies. They should be in the State sector and not at the whim of the private rental sector and the laws we have around it. As I said, those 60,000 people should not be in the private rental sector. The answer to homelessness and the housing crisis is not small landlords. It is providing people with a safe and secure home, be that through promoting homeownership, State-supported housing, social housing, cost-rental housing or good security of tenure for renters. That is the key to solving the housing crisis. There is a fundamental difference between an investment and a home. Until that penetrates our brains, we will keep making the same mistakes again and again. A home is not an investment. There is a fundamental difference in how people should be treated and the rights they should have. People who are using it for safety, security and shelter should have more rights than people's right to make money.