Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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620. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the real life experience of renting taken into account in policy formation of his Department; if his officials liaise with organisations and tenants; if not, the reason therefore; if he will consider same going forward; if so, the organisations which will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50019/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department engages with NGOs and sectorial bodies as part of the process of policy development. The Strategy for the Rental Sector in Ireland was published in December 2016 and has benefited from a public consultation process involving a stakeholder event in Dublin and almost 500 written submissions received from a broad range of stakeholders.

The subsequent enactment of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 benefitted from input from the sector, including the key Non-Government Organisations working in housing and homelessness.

In particular, the 2019 amendments to legally tighten the tenancy termination provisions and to significantly extend the tenancy termination notice periods were informed by the experiences in the rental sector, as highlighted by the NGOs. For example, 180 days (approx. 6 months) notice period must now be provided by a landlord to terminate a tenancy of between 3 and 7 years’ duration. Landlords are now also required to copy a tenancy termination notice to the RTB within 28 days of the expiry of the required tenancy termination notice period.