Covid-19 eviction ban Bill to go to Dáil next week

Legislation to extend protections for tenants will go before the Dáil next week after the Oireachtas Committee on Housing voted narrowly not to debate the Bill.

The Residential Tenancies Bill, which protects tenants from eviction if they have fallen into arrears due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is due to lapse on April 12th.

The Cabinet last week agreed the protections should be extended until July 12th. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien last Friday wrote to the housing committee asking that it waive the “pre-legislative scrutiny” phase of the Bill, to ensure its passage through the Dáil before the April expiry date.

However, several committee members opposed the rubber stamping of the Bill and pushed for a vote on Tuesday to allow the debate phase to go ahead.

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Committee chair Steven Matthews (GP) warned members there was a potentially "catastrophic" risk the legislation would expire if they did not waive their right to pre legislative scrutiny.

“I believe this Bill is seriously time constrained, there is urgency about it. There is a real possibility that the legislation that we have, the current protections we have in place to protect people from evictions and rent increases, could actually expire before we introduce this new piece of legislation.”

Sinn Féin TD Eoin O Broin said the committee had been put in "a completely unacceptable situation" given the Minister had known for some time of the impending expiry date. "We are essentially being put in a position where we have a Hobson's Choice of waiving the important function of PLS [pre-legislative scrutiny] – which isn't about being for or against legislation it's about scrutinising it to ensure it does what we are told it is intended to do – or arguing for PLS and being accused of delaying the passage of the legislation."

While the extension of protections for tenants with Covid-19 related arrears was welcome he said, all other renters who are in arrears for non-Covid reasons would lose the protection once the 5km travel limits are lifted. “I don’t think we can just let this pass.”

Fianna Fail TD Paul McAuliffe said several version of the Bill had already been scrutinised by the committee. “This is the fourth version of this Bill that has come before us, it’s not new, or complicated, or an unknown process, it is very well understood and has been well debated.”

Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan said there were wider issues than simply extending the protections from April to July. "There are potential policy implications for lifting the eviction ban in conjunction with the lifting of the 5k."

The committee voted by seven votes to six in favour of allowing the Bill to go to the Oireachtas without debate, with members of the Government parties – Fianna Fail Fine Gael and the Green Party – voting in favour, and Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour and Independents voting against.