[ad_1]
The moratorium on evictions will be tied to the five-kilometer travel restriction when enacted on Saturday.
According to the bill, whenever a travel restriction is imposed at the national level due to public health regulations from the health minister, the ban will go into effect.
This will ensure that the ban is always linked to the restrictions and will negate the need for new legislation.
The ban will only apply in a national closure and only if the travel restriction is 5km. Officials have told the opposition that this is to ensure certain functionality in the market.
It will become law through a bill being prepared by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
It will go through all the stages of the Dáil tomorrow and all the stages of the Seanad on Friday before enacting on Saturday.
Opposition parties will table amendments to the bill, but had not seen it Wednesday night, before the 9 p.m. deadline for amendments.
Under the law, tenants would be protected for the duration of the closure, in this case six weeks plus 10 days.
This would allow those who receive a notice of resignation time to find new accommodation. Those who are told to leave their homes due to antisocial behavior, damage, or unauthorized use of a home will not receive protection.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin O Broin said the bill was “weak”.
“The ban should be linked to other public health councils. There was a ban on home visits brought in last week, for example. If an apartment or house is shown, that’s a public health risk because there could be multiple people at your home during the day, and you may also be in other homes or in a queue with others.
“There is also nothing around future county closures. Say they put Dublin in a closure, that could mean people living on county lines like Blanchardstown could be evicted but they wouldn’t be allowed to go to Clonee or Leixlip to Finding accommodation Clearly, where there is a county lockdown, a ban should be introduced.
“The other thing is that this is only related to a health problem. There is still no recognition of the economic impact of Covid in the rental market.”
Speaking on Tuesday, O’Brien said he was advancing legislation to ensure public health is protected.
“At level 5, there is a movement restriction within 5km and you can only travel for essential purposes and obviously we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help people restrict their movements so that people who leave a lease enter another property and see a property, that kind of thing, would not be in the public health interest, so I bring these additional measures.
[ad_2]