Richard Boyd Barrett: Bill Will Trigger Evictions During Pandemic

The slithering, the sliding, the U-turns of Fianna Fáil and the Greens in particular have begun in earnest with this bill. This bill is a shameful betrayal of tenants which opens the door to a new wave of evictions into homelessness in the midst of a pandemic. It allows for the unthinkable. When we are being warned yet again this morning by the World Health Organization, David Navarro, on national radio that a second wave is coming, that we need more than ever to ensure physical distancing, this bill allows for the resumption of evictions into homelessness where people will be put in more vulnerable situations. On the streets, in shared accommodation, in homelessness services, or couch surfing in overcrowded conditions with relatives and friends. How can the government stand over allowing for evictions in that situation when the pandemic is with us, when the public health threat remains? It is absolutely disgraceful. Fianna Fáil have demonstrated the ability for contriving spin on a par with Fine Gael in the way they have presented this bill, incredibly presenting this bill as one that, quote, extends protection for tenants, when in fact what it does is removes protections for tenants during the pandemic. Emergency protections that were brought in are removed by this, reopening the door to evictions that were prohibited as a result of the emergency legislation in March. And indeed, the betrayal of Fianna Fáil, in particular in this regard, and the Greens, is striking in that Fianna Fáil supported the People Before Profit Solidarity anti-evictions bill, which specifically prohibited evictions on the grounds of sale, the sorts of evictions that are being practiced by unscrupulous landlords and vulture funds. They backed that bill, which was passed in the Dáil, they condemned Fine Gael for the refusal to support that bill, and now they are opening the door precisely for those evictions on the grounds of sale, which they voted against in the last Dáil. They also voted for the People Before Profit Amendment, which sought to strengthen the emergency legislation to prevent evictions, which was brought in in March, where our amendment specifically said all evictions should be prohibited during the period of a pandemic. Fianna Fáil and the Greens supported that. They are now betraying that support and leaving tenants to the wolves and to the vultures. And that is very important to say. That is not rhetoric, Minister. I have cited to you and previous Ministers on numerous occasions the group of tenants in the St. Helens Court complex directly across from my office. They will be evicted if this bill goes through. Because a vulture fund, well, I can see your signalling, and I hope you're going to intervene in that particular case. I did send you the details. I did send you the details. I emailed you last week. If this bill goes through, the vulture fund that has been trying for three years to evict those tenants will succeed in evicting 10 households, including families who have paid their rent for years. They've never missed their rent. They're working people, and they will be evicted into homelessness as a result of the passage of this bill, which will allow the vulture fund that bought that complex to evict them on the grounds of sale. It is absolutely shameful, and it runs completely in the face of public health guidance. And I should say, it is not just Threshold, the Simon community, and others who've said what you should do, and we are submitting amendments to this effect, is as the very minimum, maintain the eviction ban until the pandemic is over, at least until the end of this year for everybody, so that nobody is evicted in the middle of a public health emergency. But it's not just the homeless charities who are saying that. The National Economic and Social Council, which is under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach, produced a report in the last number of weeks saying precisely that overcrowding was incompatible with the protection of public health during the pandemic and that the emergency ban on all evictions should be retained for the duration of the pandemic. So even a body under the agency of the Taoiseach is saying you should not be doing what you are doing. And yet you are opening the door to evictions, which will happen immediately. Homelessness has decreased as a result of the eviction ban, just as we said it would. It is now going to start to increase again as a direct result of the passage of this bill. How can you possibly justify that in any circumstances, but particularly in the circumstances of a public health pandemic where you will be directly endangering the lives of the people who are evicted into homelessness because of the threat of COVID-19. And you are doing so, you are dancing to the tune of greedy vulture funds and landlords who want the right to evict tenants on the grounds of sale, refurbishment and other ways to maximise the value of their property. That's what this is about. It's about putting profit of landlords and vulture funds ahead of people. And I'll just conclude by saying, Minister, please do not give us the legal excuse. Please do not give us the legal excuse. We have all of the public health agencies with the World Health Organization warning of a second wave. It is almost inevitable we will face further spikes in COVID-19 until there is a vaccine. So the emergency context which allowed the passage of this legislation in March continues. The suggestion that somehow this is incompatible with the Constitution is nonsense. Nonsense. And frankly, it's unacceptable that an attorney general who is himself a landlord would not recuse himself from giving advice on this issue. But we absolutely reject that. And just to be assistance to you, today I will be introducing the Right to Housing Bill, which actually seeks an amendment on the Constitution to give greater powers in the area of housing, to override private property provisions and to ensure the common good by protecting people's right to secure and affordable housing. Just in case you want to use that excuse, but to be honest, it is not an acceptable excuse. So, Minister, we will be voting against this. We'll be seeking to amend this bill to ensure the protections are retained. But we will be voting against this bill. It is an absolute disgraceful betrayal of tenants which is now going to lead directly, directly to a resurgence of evictions and more families and more individuals who have done nothing wrong at all into homelessness. I honestly do not know how you can do this in the midst of a public health emergency. Thank you.