Anti-Evictions Bill
Paul Murphy asked whether the Government would allow the Anti-Evictions Bill to progress or block it with a money message. The Minister of State said the Government was focused on its own tenant protection legislation and that the Bill was at committee stage.
I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the progress of the Anti-Evictions Bill, a Solidarity Bill that was passed on Second Stage in December last year. It is similar to a Bill we proposed two years before which, among other things, would ban a "sale" as grounds for eviction. It is becoming clearer every day and week that we need to have such a Bill passed. Does the Government intend to allow the Bill to continue its progress through the House and be passed, or does it intend to seek to block it by refusing to issue a money message? I ask, in particular, in the context of the mass evictions facing many of my constituents in Exchange Hall in Tallaght by the auctioneer, McPeake's, which is seeking to sell with vacant possession by kicking out the tenants before it sells. There was a very effective protest on Saturday outside the building. There was another effective protest on Saturday outside McPeake's offices in Blanchardstown, but the bottom line is that the tenants should not have to protest.
The Government should have progressed this legislation already and no one else should face this situation.
Comment on this
We are concentrating on our own Bill that went through Cabinet last week, with amendments, to help protect tenants in this situation. I believe the Bill the Deputy refers to is in the process of Committee Stage, which is to do with the committee. We will work through our legislation, which is promised and will be committed to in May, all going well.