Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to the Cathaoirleach and all the Senators for facilitating debates on this urgent legislation in Seanad Éireann this week. I also thank the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for providing the necessary waiver of pre-legislative scrutiny and the Chief Whip for enabling the Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022 to be read a Second Time today. I also acknowledge my colleagues in Dáil Éireann for quickly passing the Bill yesterday.

I am asking Seanad Éireann to pass the Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022 today to enable its early enactment to make emergency provision to defer the termination dates of certain residential tenancies that fall or would fall during the period beginning on the date after the enactment of this Bill, and ending on 31 March 2023, in order to mitigate the risk that persons whose tenancies would otherwise be terminated during that period will be unable to obtain alternative accommodation, and to provide for phased arrangements to enable tenancies affected to be terminated over the period from 1 April to 18 June 2023 to assist in managing demands on housing services as a result of such deferred termination.

This Bill is urgently required to help those facing the very real threat of homelessness this winter. The number of people entering homeless emergency accommodation has been increasing since the start of this year. There have also been increases in the number of notices of termination from private rental accommodation during this period. The Department and local authorities have taken a number of steps to deal with the situation but given the extraordinary situation and ongoing increases in the numbers of people accessing emergency accommodation, additional emergency measures are now required.

The Bill provides for deferment of certain tenancy terminations taking effect over the coming winter emergency period due to the ongoing, acute supply constraints in the residential rental sector and the expected increase in homelessness presentations over the coming period. The Bill seeks to reduce the burden on homelessness services and pressure on tenants and the residential tenancies market during the winter months.

The Government recognises that although a landlord's constitutional protected property right to terminate a tenancy will be constrained by this Bill, it is necessary to take this step to achieve an urgent social objective of preventing tenants being made homeless or having to source alternative accommodation in an extremely constrained market during the coming winter months.

To ensure the response is proportionate the measures in this Bill are limited to the winter of 2022-23, will impact only in respect of certain tenancies and are calibrated to apply as fairly as possible. In proposing the termination pause, the Government is balancing the competing priorities of preventing people falling into homelessness, while recognising the need to fairly stem the continued exit of small-scale landlords from the private rental sector.

I recognise the key role that landlords play in providing vital accommodation in our State and I completely reject any political rhetoric demonising them. The Government is conscious of the need to ensure that small-scale landlords remain in the private rental market. With this in mind, as part of the review of Housing for All which the Government will publish shortly, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has proposed to commission a comprehensive review of the private rental sector after significant regulatory changes over the past several years and will act on its recommendations as soon as practical.Our housing system needs a safe and secure framework for both landlords and tenants.

I am also conscious that, if passed, this Bill provides a window of time for my Department, local authorities, approved housing bodies and NGOs to progress delivery under Housing for All to remove the need for this emergency legislation. The Government is taking significant steps to address the supply constraints in the housing market and to deliver homes for rent and purchase, including social, affordable and cost rental housing. However, there are a number of factors, including the increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness, increased demand for accommodation resulting from the Ukrainian crisis and significant inward migration, which are combining to create significant difficulties in the provision of emergency accommodation, particularly so over the coming months. This is placing additional pressure on homelessness services as we enter the winter period, when capacity constraints are extremely tight for emergency accommodation and housing providers generally. Let me reassure Senators that the Government and I, and my Department officials, as well as relevant stakeholders, are doing everything within our power to mitigate the pressures that people will face this winter.

For those tenants who are struggling to meet their obligations to pay rent, in particular due to loss of employment, there are supports available to help. This can include the provision of rent supplement and the use of additional needs payments, or both, from the Department of Social Protection to address the person's particular needs. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department of Social Protection can make additional needs payments to help to meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments.

I turn to the emergency provisions contained in this Bill. It is important at the outset to note the exceptions from its provisions. These exceptions are provided in recognition of constitutionally protected property rights and the need to balance the rights of the tenant with those of the landlord. The deferral of notices of termination from taking effect during the winter will not apply where there is a failure by the tenant to comply with his or her obligations under the tenancy. The core rights of a landlord to protect his or her property and to secure a rental income will not be limited in any way by this Bill. Landlords’ obligations to their tenants and to third parties, such as neighbours, do not change under this Bill.

In the time available, I would like to outline the specific provisions of the Bill, which contains five sections. Sections 1 and 5 contain standard provisions dealing with the interpretation, Short Title and collective citation of the Bill. The "winter emergency period" is defined to mean the period commencing on the day after the enactment of this Bill and ending on 31 March 2023. Section 2 provides for the deferral of a notice of termination where it has been served by a landlord on or before the date of the passing of the Act, which specifies a termination date that falls during the winter emergency period, or where a dispute in relation to the termination of a tenancy is referred to the Residential Tenancies Board under Part 6 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and a determination order issued in relation to the dispute specifies a termination date that falls during the winter emergency period.

In terms of the exceptions, as I have alluded to, the deferral does not apply to a notice of termination where the termination is grounded on the tenant’s failure to meet his or her obligations under section 16 of the Act of 2004. It also does not apply where the landlord states in the notice of termination that the reason for the termination is on the ground of a breach of tenant obligations, other than to pay rent; a breach of a tenant’s obligation to pay rent; or the fact that the accommodation no longer suits the tenant’s accommodation needs having regard to the number of bed spaces and the size of the household. I note that some concerns have been raised about continuing to allow a landlord to terminate a tenancy during the winter on foot of overcrowding. I note that a number of Senators have submitted amendments on this issue and we can debate them fully on Committee Stage. Overcrowding can be serious and a landlord needs the legal right to act to prevent it. It is rarely used, with less than 2% of all notices of termination referred under it. In reality only such a small number of notices of termination already issued will be impacted by this exception during the winter emergency period but it is important in instances of clear health and safety or fire risks.

Section 2 of the Bill sets out, in a table, how the deferment of relevant tenancy terminations will operate. As can be seen, the deferment dates operate in a staggered fashion beyond the winter period to ensure that there is no cliff edge at the end of the period, which would put an unmanageable pressure on the private rental market and homelessness services. Section 3 of the Bill provides that, where a tenant is not in breach of his or her obligations, any notice of termination served by a landlord in respect of a tenancy of less than six months duration during the winter emergency period shall not specify a termination date that falls earlier than 18 June 2023. Section 4 of the Bill provides for the interoperability of the Bill with the Residential Tenancies Act 2020, introduced to deal with the Covid pandemic. If a stay on tenancy terminations comes into effect under that Act, in the event of peoples’ movements being restricted on public health grounds to within 5 km of their home under section 31A of the health regulations made by the Minister for Health, the revised termination date that applies to affected tenancies in an area under the Act would apply if it is later than the relevant deferred termination date under this Bill. The Bill also provides that a tenant shall not accrue security of tenure rights under Part 4 of the Act of 2004 by virtue of the operation of the deferred, or later, termination dates required under this Bill.

The Bill is framed in a proportionate and fair manner in its limitation of landlord’s constitutionally protected property rights. As legislators, we have shown throughout the pandemic how we can work together to quickly help tenants. I think we can all appreciate and recognise the sentiment behind this Bill.