Party to use Private Members Time on 26 October to debate bill
Today, People Before Profit announced that they will be bringing a bill to the Dáil in October to implement an eviction ban- The Eviction Ban Bill 2022.
The Bill introduces a ban on evictions for the duration of the current housing emergency (originally declared by Dáil Eireann on 3 October 2018). The ban is for a 12 month period initially but is renewable by the Government at the request of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the Minister considers it to be in public interest, having regard to the threat to living standards and risk of poverty presented by the cost of living crisis and housing emergency. It will prevent the termination of residential tenancies for any reason other than damage to the property over and above normal wear and tear, anti-social behavior or invalidating insurance.
Speaking on the bill, Richard Boyd Barrett TD said: “The housing and homelessness situation has once again reached unprecedented levels where the numbers of people without their own accommodation has reached the highest figure ever. Focus Ireland has today pointed out that this is a result of bad political decisions.
“We have tabled this bill in order to force the government into action and instigate an eviction ban to prevent further people entering homelessness. In 2018 the government declared a housing emergency. It is now incumbent on them to introduce a ban on evictions as this crisis is clearly only getting worse and government measures to date have been totally ineffective in dealing with the crisis.”