Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if local authorities are permitted to evict tenants or if there is an injunction in place prohibiting it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7068/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Supreme Court issued a judgment in February 2012 in two cases relating to section 62 of the Housing Act 1966 , which sets out the procedure for repossession of a dwelling by a housing authority . In one case, the court made a declaration , pursuant to section 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 , that section 62(3) of the Housing Act 1966 is incompatible with the State’s obligations under Article 8 of the Convention by reason of the absence of appropriate procedural safeguards in circumstances where there exists a factual dispute as to whether a tenancy has been properly terminated for breach of the tenancy agreement. In the other case, the court ruled that there was no dispute as to the facts and did not make a declaration of incompatibility.

Section 5(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 provides that a declaration of incompatibility in respect of an enactment does not affect its validity, continuing operation or enforcement. Nonetheless, housing authorities were advised in March 2012 that they should, i n consultation with their legal advisers, review their approach to section 62 of the 1966 Act to ensure that their application of the enactment is consistent with the Supreme Court judgment and that, in cases where they decide that it would not be appropriate to proceed by way of that enactment , authorities should investigate alternative options for securing possession of their dwellings.

It is intended that proposals currently being developed for new housing legislation will include a revised procedure for repossession of local authority dwellings .