Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Laura Harmon (LAB), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I want to state from outset that we are opposed to section 7. The Labour Party was opposed to this in the Dáil and we are opposed to it here today.
We are opposed to the new restrictions on emergency accommodation that this section will put in place. We are also opposed to the way the Government has managed this legislation, effectively tacking on a whole new Bill on Report Stage in the Dáil. The TDs there got less than 24 hours' notice of the wide-ranging amendments and the debate was guillotined after two hours. It does not allow for proper scrutiny and it is not the right way to do legislation. Removing the safety net is a huge concern, that is, the safety net of emergency accommodation for people most at risk of homelessness. Creating these additional administrative barriers might help to massage monthly homeless figures but it is only going to create a whole host of other problems. It will lead, in our view, to an increase in rough sleeping as well.
I have been contacted by many organisations who have expertise in this area and who have grave concerns about this legislation, particularly Focus Ireland. It specifically has concerns regarding the proposed safety net. It states that access to shelter is a basic humanitarian protection and should not be conditional on proving eligibility before support is provided. It says the Bill provides local authorities with discretion to allow people to access shelter on a night-by-night basis, with accommodation available only during the specified hours of 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The legislation makes no provision for winter darkness or people who have children with them. Focus Ireland is also concerned that this will provide little security or stability for vulnerable adults or families and is inconsistent with modern housing-led approaches to tackling homelessness. These are some really serious concerns from a leading organisation working at the coalface on this.
The strict, arbitrary two-night limit is also a mistake. It removes the discretion that acted as a safety net and allowed local authorities to use their own common sense on humanitarian grounds to provide shelter to people. The strict rigidity of the Minister's approach will, in our view, remove a vital safety net. This approach fundamentally changes Ireland's homelessness policy, making access to emergency accommodation contingent on factors other than whether that person is homeless is a fundamental change of approach that we are steadfastly opposed to. It will leave vulnerable people without emergency accommodation and increase rough sleeping, in our view. We are completely opposed to section 7.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:15+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14