Last week was the week when the mask slipped and the honeymoon ended. We were told homelessness numbers were low, that homelessness was normal, that the homeless were to blame for being homeless. It was cold, calculated, to some extent co-ordinated, and deeply cynical. The people looked and saw the defenders of the system insulting the victims of the system and they did not like what they saw. Let us see how the Taoiseach does on the issue this week. If homelessness is a monster, this afternoon it is growling outside the doors of 23 households at the Leeside apartment complex in Cork city. The new owners of the apartments have issued them all with notices to quit. The new owner, Lugus Capital, does not attempt to hide its support for social cleansing. Its website boasts "On acquiring buildings, we completely refurbish them to a high standard, before re-letting with a focus on attracting young professional tenants." Sherry FitzGerald reckons this approach could increase rental income at Leeside apartments by €300,000 a year. Lugus Capital is the Irish manager for the Larea Fa Fund Li DAC which is ultimately owned by Bain Capital. Bain Capital, founded by former US Republican presidency candidate, Mitt Romney, mentioned more than once in the Paradise Papers, is one of the largest vulture funds on the planet. Residents who live in this apartment complex include many young families with kids going to local schools. One of them has received a notice to quit for 20 December. Another has received a notice to quit for 30 December. One of them had a notice to quit taped to their front door. Threshold reports that up and down the country profiteering landlords are using substantial refurbishment as the excuse to get rid of tenants, hike rents and get new tenants in.

I have three questions for the Taoiseach. Will he ensure his Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government does not just address this loophole, but closes it in such a way that the residents of Leeside apartments and others like them are fully protected? When will this legislation be introduced? These families cannot afford to wait. Will he join with me and tell the House and the residents who are here in the Public Gallery that the actions of this vulture fund are completely and utterly unacceptable?

I appreciate the Deputy's concern about the duration of mine and the Government's honeymoon.

I do not think there has been a honeymoon at all but I appreciate the Deputy's interest and concern in that regard.

Homelessness is something the Government feels very deeply about and it is a matter we have prioritised. Since 2012 or so, the funding put into services for people who are homeless has doubled or even more than doubled. We are going to have an 18% or 20% increase in homelessness services spending next year and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government will either today or tomorrow announce a major increase in the number of beds available for rough sleepers so there can be a surplus number of beds available for them. That is particularly important over the winter. We have also put much work into developing family hubs to ensure there are no families or children on our streets and the numbers of those in bed and breakfasts and hotels falls. It has fallen since its peak in March. From there we will look to moving people from family hubs to new housing, and approximately 80 or 100 individuals and their families are every day being provided with housing by the State through different mechanisms. These are new tenancies.

I read something about the Leeside apartments in the newspapers but I do not know all the details and I am loath to comment on something I am not fully informed about. The Minister has committed to changing or clarifying the rules around substantial refurbishment so they are not abused by landlords and they do not misuse this as a mechanism to evict people after carrying out minor refurbishments and increasing rents. The Minister intends, if not this week then next week, to clarify exactly what substantial refurbishment means.

With landlords in general, it is particularly cruel to seek to give somebody a notice to quit or an eviction notice in the run-up to Christmas. I absolutely condemn that. At the very least, if the apartment block genuinely needs refurbishment, I am sure it could be left until the new year and the people living there could be given adequate and reasonable time to find new homes.

Where?

I know how difficult it is for people to find new accommodation in the current environment. If substantial refurbishment is not genuinely required or urgent, those eviction notices should be withdrawn. The people living in that development should be given adequate time to find new accommodation if they can do so and they certainly should not be evicted before Christmas.

That is not good enough. The Taoiseach has said he does not want people being evicted because of minor refurbishment but this is not a minor refurbishment. It is a €3 million refurbishment. If the Taoiseach changes the rule to outlaw evictions arising from minor refurbishment, these people will still get evicted. The Taoiseach has stated he does not want people being evicted in the run-up to Christmas, which I welcome, but does he have a problem with people being evicted in January, February, March, April or May? It seems he does not.

Let us be clear about what is happening. This is a vulture fund that has gotten its claws into this building. They are putting 23 households, including young families, out on their ear in a market where if they look for a place, it will cost €1,000, €1,100, €1,200, €1,300 or €1,400, with queues of 50, 60 or 100 people going out the door and down the stairs. There are no homes to be had for these people. Is the Taoiseach prepared to say to his housing Minister that the loophole must be closed in such a way that the people in the Gallery and families like them around the country will not be evicted? They should be protected in the case of minor refurbishment and in general from the activities from profiteering vulture funds.

It is not a loophole, it is the law. Sometimes houses, apartments and duplex buildings need refurbishment. Sometimes they are not safe as there are fire safety issues. Sometimes roofs need to be repaired. There are occasions on which houses and apartment buildings require substantial refurbishment. I do not know if it is the case in this instance and whether the substantial refurbishment is necessary and genuine. Either way, nobody should be evicted on such short notice in the run-up to Christmas. If it is the case that substantial refurbishment is not required, at the very least the people concerned should be given adequate time and many months to find alternative accommodation.