Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2020-07-31
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

I thank Senator Ruane for her contribution. We are trying to get what is achievable and constitutional, which can be very difficult, while trying to protect the most vulnerable. We have no idea for sure for how long Covid-19 will be here and we cannot rely on a blanket ban on evictions being sustainable in the long term. We must be very clear and I quoted figures earlier regarding balancing the rights of tenants and landlords, as 6,500 residential landlords left the market since 2016 and 86% of those landlords have one or two units. It is important that we have small-scale landlords as well as tenants as public housing is not currently able to meet demand. We need to be very careful that the measures we adopt do not have unintended consequences like those I have mentioned.
This Bill is about protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring those who are under pressure due to the pandemic can make a declaration and rely on the protections set out within the Bill.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-07-31