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THE MINISTER FOR Housing has called on the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to investigate an eviction of nine tenants from a property in Dublin last week that raised concerns after footage of the incident was shared on social media.
Minister Darragh O’Brien wrote to the RTB today to ask it to launch an investigation into the treatment of the evicted tenants, who were evicted from their home in Phibsborough last Wednesday.
O’Brien said that he “wrote to the RTB to ask that they begin an investigation into the incident and report to me without delay”.
The tenants were evicted suddenly by security staff who moved the tenants’ belongings out of the property.
“I am deeply concerned about the treatment of the tenants and want to see this case prioritised by the RTB,” the minister said.
“All tenants need to be treated fairly, respectfully and within the confines of protections provided in the Residential Tenancies Act,” he said.
Footage of the eviction showed at least three gardaí at the scene.
In a video shared on social media, a garda says that it’s “not my responsibility if you’re homeless” to one of the evicted tenants.
A tenant was told that the security firm had given documentation to the gardaí and that the tenants had “no right anymore to be here”.
In his letter to the RTB, O’Brien asked that the board consider “an own violation investigation under RTB Part 7A of the Residential Tenancies Act” and to “prioritise any dispute that may be brought to you by the affected tenants in relation to this termination”.
He wrote that he would consider the RTB’s report “swiftly” and implement any relevant recommendations made that would protect tenants.
It is understood that the tenants who were evicted have since regained access to the property.
The building has been involved in a legal dispute and was sold two months ago from a property fund to another entity.
Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey has already requested an “urgent” report into the lessons learned by gardaí following the incident.
Twomey said that An Garda Síochána is a “learning” organisation.
“If, where An Garda Síochána can learn from this experience, we will do so to ensure that we continue to provide the best policing service going forward based on our tradition of policing by consent,” he said.
An outside Superintendent has been appointed to examine the circumstances of the incident.
On Saturday, protesters marched from Custom House Quay down O’Connell Street against the eviction and the government’s wider approach to the housing and homelessness crisis.
That statement is just “if we can learn from this, we will, and we’ll continue to be the great bunch of lads that we are”.
It basically seems to be a middle finger up to any criticism
@JusticeForJoe: an organisation of 13 thousand police dealing with a few thousand incidents a day may occasionally handle something poorly.
They shouldn’t have to bend over in apology every time some quango, usually in an attempt to justify their funding, tuts loudly.
They have 2 or 3 oversight bodies already I understand. The minister didn’t mention them in his concerned speech.
If the house was sold in June … were they not squatting ?
@Roughan Bass: they were paying the new landlord….apartently
@Roughan Bass: They weren’t informed and continued paying rent as normal so no.
I may have gotten wires crossed
That Bean Garda should be reassigned to a desk job and never be allowed deal with the general public again. Those “security” thugs should have their licences revoked. It was despicable how they treated those poor people. Yet FFG/Greens passed legislation two weeks ago to facilitate this, shame on them all.
@Roughan Bass:
No, if you sell a property while a lease is in place, the tenants are not immediatly “squatters”. They are still tenants with legal rights, such as the right to appropriate written notice of eviction, and the right to their home and privacy until their notice has been given and expired.
@JusticeForJoe: no you’re right, one fund sold it to another fund who didn’t go through the legal process to have the tenants, who continued to pay rent, evicted.
In other words the minister won’t answer the question right now,once again our government set up investigation,tribunal,inquiries,study,examinations into this matter.kicked down the road for a few months and by that time life has moved on and no need to answer why guards were involved in an illegal partaking
That ban Garda behaved dreadfully….I know they have a job to do but Jesus have some heart……
Illegal evictions are terrible, and need to be stamped out, and this does appear to have been just that. The tenants seem to have being paying their rent, just to the wrong person. There also needs to be better mechanisms put in place for landlords to evict tenants. It’s not right that someone can live in your house for so long without paying rent.
@Logan Shepherd: why was the previous landlord still accepting the rent if the property had been sold and wasn’t his anymore?? Also if they don’t sort out the housing crisis racism with increase as soon as we hit a recession because the more people who have worked here all there lives and paid taxes start to struggle to pay there way they’ll look at the lad next door who got a house for free and a car etc and there’s the person who’s paid tax since they where 18 years old getting they’re house repossessed because they can’t pay the mortgage….
@Gary Deehan: that seems to the the fault of the new owners not the tenants.
Imagine if it wasn’t caught on camera. Would make you wonder what else is going on
The gardai handled it badly. If it was still a legal eviction, it’s only a minor detail
@Mattress Dick: as is mentioned in the article it was an illegal eviction so in this incidence the Guards supported an illegal act.
What “security” firm wears tricolours on their jackets?
Good thing these tenants thought to film the illegal eviction. Otherwise I doubt they’d be getting all this support.
This kind of illegal eviction happens constantly, it’s not an isolated incident and anyone who thinks so is a fool.
@David Bourke: getting a lot more support than all the landlords who have to wait 18 months to get non payers out
@james foley: There’s two tpye of landords James, possibly three, which ones you rooting for?
@Paul Gorry: obvious – the ones who cannot remove bad tennants who refuse to pay rent
@Thomas Sheridan: suspend and stop the rent is perfectly legal tool available for tenants when the landlord refused to bring their homes up to minimum standards. Terms and Conditions of HAP contract. Because of this legal protection to the most vulnerable tenants, there are some landlords who refuse to rent under any government assistance to pay the rent.
When a landlord refuses to perform an Improvement of Standard Notice from the tenant or/and the Authority …. The landlord is waiving the right to receive the rent ….. Would you imagine how much money will save from the taxpayers if the Housing Minister instructs – zero tolerance- on this?
@Thomas Sheridan: ah! Forgot! If the landlord has a mortgage is not the owner, as it has been proven in this case
@Maria Quinn: the property isn’t mortgaged. Goldman Sachs are the current owners and bought the property from another fund. Are you suggesting the tenants, who’ve been living and paying rent for years, should have no security?
Did the Gardaí bring over a few mates from the Ivory Coast to assist with the illegal eviction?
Can we stop to call this “eviction”?
A group of men wearing the Irish flag on their chest breaking in the homes of people, modest and honest, is never an eviction, it is hate, brutal extortion, coercive control …. not a jurisdiction of the RTB …. the Housing Minister should have instructed the State Attorney Prosecutor to take the matter …. as he did when ignored the HSE when lifted the bans to terminate and evict ( two very different things) …. Then the Housing Minister pushed the Homexit Bill to protect the ownership rights of the landlords ….. voices were raised up remembering exactly the issue rose here – when there is a mortgage, the property is owned by the financial entity until the mortgage and its interest is paid up-
And here we are … a landlord from Dún Laoghaire with a recurrent issue repaid a debt when his tenants are modest and honest with their rent paid up
These tenants are heroes, unbelievable how well they managed the whole thing, exposing the terrible true behind evictions
I have little faith in the RTB.
I am curious about whether a criminal investigation is being pursused agains the landlord and the gang who broke into the house?
Who is the landlord by the way?
@Cookie: in an earlier article it said Goldman Sachs is the find who purchased the property from another fund, in June I think it was.
By the way, even an eviction must to comply with the GDPR. We all have very private and very personal data stored in our homes, any eviction must to be performed to provide the mandatory protection to the personal and private data of the tenant …. storage and access to ….. plus protection of private property … from damage and robbery
The optics from the state were brutal, and not a word from PSA
Shame on the Irish Government, a lot said and nothing done. Why are people getting evicted from their rented accommodations if they are paying on time? Any tugs wearing balaclavas can now enter privates homes and put people in the street?
Pointless when the RTB is already under resourced to handle its current workload. Will any more resources be provided by minister Darragh O’Brien or just insincere proclamation about holding rich powerful landlords to account.
Going forward number of evictions are only going to increase. Another crisis because of government policy to reduce housing numbers to protect property prices.
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