Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 3, after line 31, to insert the following:

“Grounds for termination by landlord

2. The Act of 2004 is amended—

(a) in the Table to section 34—

(i) by deleting paragraph 3, and

(ii) in paragraph 5, by substituting “, no reasonable measures can be taken to maintain the dwelling fit for human habitation during the refurbishment or renovation” for “in a way which requires the dwelling to be vacated for that purpose”,

and

(b) in section 35 by the substitution of the following for subsection (4):

“(4) In paragraph 4 of the Table the reference to a member of the landlord’s family is a reference to—

(a) a spouse or civil partner of the landlord, or

(b) a child (including a stepchild, foster child or adopted child) of the landlord.”.”.

I will speak to the grouping. I am not going to press this amendment massively. The more important one is around the tenant in situscheme and having the notice served on a local authority as well. We have reflected what is in place in France where, essentially, if a tenant is being evicted the property is offered at market value to the tenant. There are much stronger tenant rights in other European countries where renting has not been normalised exactly but they have certainly made conditions better for renters.

This amendment relates to the wider Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill, which we introduced in 2021 in the Dáil and is now at Second Stage. We constantly make the point that we need to restrict the criteria or grounds for eviction, for example by removing the fact that family members are moving in or the sale of a property as grounds for eviction. We submitted this amendment to make the political point that we still believe this and want to see it happen. It is the responsibility of the Government to do this; otherwise, we will be faced with these situations every winter and we will see homeless services being overwhelmed. It will give people who rent, including those who are renting into their 30s, 40s and 50s, long-term security of tenure. We want to see a move to a situation where we balance the rights of people who rent in this country and we give renters more rights than they currently have. I have spoken to the amendment but I am not going to press it.