As the Senator is fully aware, when a person is trafficked into this country, the supports are provided by the Department of justice, which initially decides the status. People being trafficked are not in any way affected by this legislation and it is the same with domestic violence. I have clarified this on a number of occasions, but I will clarify it again. This is about habitual residents in the State; local entitlement within a local authority is a different question. However, once you have established legal en…

I have just clearly set that out with regard to human trafficking and domestic violence.

I am happy to address that because I have addressed it in multiple debates already in relation to this miscellaneous provisions Bill. There is a problem with the lack of consistency in the application of the circular across the country. We are deliberately bringing this in to ensure there is regulatory certainty and consistency, and we will also be providing guidance and training to our local authorities to ensure it is applied consistently. I have said, not just in this debate but also in previous debates on this …

I cannot accept amendment No. 14. As outlined on Committee Stage in the Dáil, my Department has engaged in extensive and continuous consultation with legal advisers throughout the development of the residency requirements, from initial drafting to finalisation. This has involved detailed consideration of all relevant constitutional, European Union and international legal principles. Legal advice received during drafting outlined that the State is entitled to lawfully restrict access to social housing supports durin…

Unfortunately, I cannot accept amendments Nos. 16, 17 and 18. Under subsections 20(4) and 20(6) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, the Minister has the power to make regulations setting out the criteria for determining the eligibility and need for social housing support. The legislation in relation to eligibility makes specific reference to eligibility criteria based on income, the availability of alternative accommodation and previous rent arrears in local authority housing and, in relation to the…

Unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment. The amendment proposes a provision that a social housing appeal shall be made to an independent appeals officer located within the Housing Agency. This would be inefficient and administratively unworkable because 31 separate local authorities would be submitting appeals to a single office, which would be operationally impractical at scale, given the volume of social housing appeals dealt with across all local authorities. This is in addition to the financial cost of its…

Children are excluded from the lawful residency requirement. It is difficult to see how, if their parents or one of their parents is living here, a child would not also be habitually resident. Family reunification is planned and intentional. It is a very different scenario. The examples given by the Senator seem to be more focused on joint family reunification, which is a different matter altogether.

As I set out earlier in the debate, there will be careful and detailed monitoring of the application of this legislation and any data created from it as well. That is very much the intention with this legislation.

I am happy to provide a brief reply. We are satisfied that the residency requirement in section 20 of the completed final draft is compatible with the Constitution and European and international law. Of course, local authorities are public authorities. They are independent in their decision-making. They have to abide by the law and are subject to the Equal Status Acts but, as Minister, I have no role in their compliance with this legislation. Where local authorities are in breach of the Equal Status Acts, there are…

I cannot accept amendment No. 21. This amendment proposes the introduction of a social housing passport allowing households to transfer between local authority areas while retaining their original waiting list or transfer list position. The amendment as it stands is well-intentioned. However, such an approach as drafted gives rise to significant legislative, operational and fairness concerns and is, therefore, not suitable for inclusion in this Bill. The current social housing system is based on local assessment of…

One of the biggest problems is that while some local authorities are now making significant headway in the delivery of social housing and their waiting times for people to access social housing have fallen significantly, other local authorities are not stepping up to the mark. They are not making the same effort or using the available resources from the Department. We are now getting a significant variation in waiting times as well. We need to get all local authorities to deliver social housing so that we get the w…

I am pleased to bring the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 before the House. This Bill is structured in five Parts. Part 2 deals with amendments to the Housing Act 1988, while Part 3 deals with amendments to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 around the eligibility for social housing. Part 4 deals with amendments to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, while Part 5 deals with a number of amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Amendments to th…

I thank Senators for their contributions. I will address some of the issues that have been raised. In relation to Senator McCormack, it is very disappointing that the Sinn Féin spokesperson, or any Sinn Féin Senator, did not remain for the answers, but anyway. Irish migrants returning are not affected by this legislation. It reflects current rules. For Irish migrants returning, it would be very straightforward for them to establish habitual residence. They would, of course, already have a legal entitlement to be he…

They were left with a housing crisis of too many homes, which they turned into a housing crisis of too few. In four and a half years they built 75 homes.

If they had actually put policies in to address the homelessness crisis at that time-----

I know, and I am taking responsibility-----

-----for what I am doing. Those in the Labour Party should take responsibility for what it did in government the last time.

On Senator Higgins's point, children are exempted from lawful residency requirements. We are not just worried about social housing numbers. We will increase the social housing limits, which will increase the number of people under social housing limits. Any suggestion that we are doing this to somehow reduce the number of people on the social housing lists will be proven incorrect when we increase the social housing limits, which in turn will increase the number of people on the social housing lists. I am always co…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 10, to delete “Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009” and substitute the following: “Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009; to provide for additional eligibility criteria for access to certain services provided to homeless persons under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988; to provide for withdrawal of such services in certain cases; to provide for an appeal in respect of such withdrawal; for those purposes to amend the Housing Act 1988”. On Second Stage of the Hous…

I move: That the Bill be recommitted in respect of amendments Nos. 1 and 8 to 11, inclusive.