Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-08
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

I move amendment No. 11:
In page 6, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:
“Insertion of new sections 10A and 10B in Act of 1988
7. The Act of 1988 is amended by the insertion of the following new sections after section
10:
“Residency requirements
10A. (1) A person shall not be eligible to access arrangements, assistance or accommodation provided by a housing authority by virtue of section 10(1) unless the authority, having carried out an assessment, is satisfied that the person, and any person who normally resides with that person or who might reasonably be expected to reside with that person, meets the requirements referred to in section 20A(1) of the Act of 2009.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), section 20(7) of the Act of 2009, in so far as it relates to section 20A of that Act, and the said section 20A, shall apply subject to the following modifications:
(a) a reference to a household shall be read as a reference to—
(i) a homeless person who, but for being such a person, would live
alone,
(ii) a group of persons comprising a homeless person and one or
more other persons who normally reside with that person, or
(iii) a group of persons comprising a homeless person and one or more other persons who might reasonably be expected to reside with that person;
(b) a reference to social housing support shall be read as a reference to arrangements, assistance or accommodation provided under section 10;
(c) a reference to a social housing assessment shall be read as a reference to an assessment for the purposes of subsection (1);
(d) any other necessary modifications.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), where a person does not meet the eligibility requirements referred to in subsection (1) and, in the opinion of the housing authority, that person is seeking alternative arrangements, assistance or accommodation and no such alternative arrangements, assistance or accommodation are available to that person, a housing authority may, on the date on which such opinion is formed, make arrangements for, or provide assistance or accommodation to, that person by virtue of section 10(1) between the hours of 8 p.m. on that date and 8 a.m. on the date immediately following that date.
(4) Where a housing authority has made arrangements for, or provided assistance or accommodation to, a person under subsection (3), the housing authority may make arrangements for, or provide assistance or accommodation to, that person for a further period between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the date immediately following the date on which the opinion referred to in subsection (3) was formed where, in the opinion of the authority, alternative arrangements, assistance or accommodation continue to be unavailable to that person.
(5) A housing authority may refuse to make arrangements under subsection (3) where alternative arrangements, assistance or accommodation have been refused by the person within a period of 24 months prior to seeking accommodation under section 10(1).
(6) Where, under subsections (3) or (4), arrangements are made, or assistance or accommodation are provided, such arrangements, assistance or accommodation shall not be considered for the purposes of determining, under section 20A of the Act of 2009, as applied by subsection (1), whether the person in respect of whom such arrangements have been made or to whom such assistance or accommodation has been provided, is habitually resident in the State.
(7) Subsection (3) shall not apply to:
(a) an applicant within the meaning of section 2 of the International Protection Act 2015;
(b) a person to whom section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015 applies;
(c) an applicant within the meaning of section 2 of the International Protection Act 2026;
(d) a person to whom section 237 of the International Protection Act 2026 applies.
Appeal of determination under section 10(8)
10B. (1) Where a housing authority determines, under section 10(8), that accommodation or lodgings shall no longer be made available to a person, that person may appeal that determination.
(2) An appeal under subsection (1) shall be made to the chief executive of the housing authority concerned, or, in the case of Limerick City and County Council, to the director general of Limerick City and County Council, within 14 days of the notification by the housing authority to the person concerned of the determination under section 10(8).
(3) An appeal under subsection (1) shall be in writing and shall state the ground or grounds on which the appeal is made.
(4) An appeal under subsection (1) may, to support a ground of the appeal, be accompanied by any information relevant to the making of the appeal.
(5) On receipt by the chief executive or the director general, as the case may be, of an appeal under subsection (1), the chief executive of the authority, or, in the case of Limerick City and County Council, the director general of Limerick City and County Council, shall appoint an officer or employee of the authority to decide the appeal (in this section referred to as an ‘appeals officer’) and shall furnish that person with the appeal.
(6) An appeals officer shall be a person who—
(a) did not make the determination concerned, and
(b) is in a more senior role in the authority than the person who made the determination or in a role that is equivalent in seniority to a role that is more senior than the role of that person.
(7) An appeals officer shall be independent in the performance of his or her functions under this section.
(8) An appeals officer shall decide an appeal under subsection (1) within 14 days of receipt of the appeal and shall—
(a) confirm the determination concerned,
(b) vary the determination, or
(c) set aside the determination and, where the appeals officer considers it appropriate, make an alternative determination.
(9) In deciding an appeal under subsection (1), an appeals officer shall consider whether the housing authority acted reasonably and in good faith in making the determination, under section 10(8), that accommodation or lodgings shall no longer be made available to the person.
(10) A decision of an appeals officer on an appeal under subsection (1) shall be in writing and shall include reasons for the decision.
(11) An appeals officer shall provide a copy of his or her decision to the person who appealed, under subsection (1), the determination.
(12) A decision of an appeals officer on an appeal under subsection (1) shall be final.”.”.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08