Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-19
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

This amendment proposing an eviction ban relying on Covid-19 legislation is just not credible. That legislation was to deal with a very serious public health emergency created by a contagious disease and where people were restricted in their movement. Whatever about arguing for an eviction ban, using Covid-19 legislation is an egregious approach.
As for eviction bans in themselves, the housing crisis, the rental crisis and the homelessness crisis are all part of a supply crisis and unless we drive supply we will not solve any of those crises. That is what we are completely focused on, so people can have the homes they need - be those social, affordable, private, for purchase or for rent - in their local communities. What an eviction ban does is absolutely kill supply. It kills any hope of solving the housing crisis.
While I appreciate that it has been put forward as a populist measure to give people who find themselves in distressing circumstances false hope, the reality is-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19