Last Friday, in the very early hours of the morning, a serious fire broke out in the Auburn Park apartments in Castleknock in my constituency. The Minister of State knows Castleknock and is probably aware of this apartment block. The fire was significant. Up to four fire engines were dispatched to bring it under control. At least one person was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. Hundreds of people, all the residents of this block of apartments, had to be evacuated in order to control the fire. Significant damage was done to the roof of the complex. A number of the apartments on the top floors were directly exposed, and others suffered severe water damage as a result of the efforts to extinguish the fire. All 45 apartments in the complex are currently vacant. Most of the residents were accommodated in a hotel on the night of the fire and have been in that local hotel since then. Locals in the area are working to assist those who were evacuated, particularly those whose apartments were severely damaged. The key point for me this morning is what happens next. All bar nine of the 45 apartments are owned by a property group and are leased out by that group. Shockingly, earlier this week, many of the residents were told that they were having their tenancy terminated due to the units being uninhabitable. The Minister of State can imagine the shock that created, in that on top of a fire tenants were told their tenancy was gone, just like that. Thankfully, that notice of termination of tenancy has been withdrawn by the property group, and that is something I welcome. However, there is still real concern among these tenants. They have been told they have an hour-long slot to go into their apartments, gather up their stuff and take it out as if people could pack up their entire lives in just one hour. Right now, the residents have accommodation in a hotel but that ends tomorrow, and after that there is no clarity about how these residents are going to be supported. I have a number of questions the residents need answered urgently to give them some guidance about what happens next. Can a landlord terminate a tenancy on the basis of a unit being uninhabitable, and is there any restriction on the landlord doing that? If a landlord terminates a tenancy on the basis of a unit being uninhabitable, does he or she owe the tenant any other duties after doing that? When a unit has been damaged but the tenancy has not been terminated, what duties does a landlord owe a tenant in that particular situation? For example, does the landlord have any duty to find alternative accommodation for the tenant? Does he or she have any responsibilities as regards assisting the tenant finding and paying for storage for their personal items? Finally, if a landlord does not provide alternative accommodation in circumstances where a unit is badly damaged, where else can the tenant get help? Does the local authority owe any of the obligations there? Do any other parts of the State owe obligations in that particular situation? These are detailed questions. I recognise the Minister of State is not the line Minister here but these questions really need to be answered urgently because tenants in the vast majority of these homes are looking at a deadline where their accommodation in a hotel is paid until tomorrow and no further. They need to know what to do. I am working to support them, and Deputy Currie has engaged with them and has been giving a lot of help as well, but if we can get some key answers and clarity about the legal responsibilities here, it will at least help guide the tenants to a certain degree.

Sentiment score: -0.12

I thank the Minister of State for his response. In Topical Issue debates, we often hear a Minister or Minister of State saying, "I will ask the Minister to get back to you." I really appeal to the Minister of State to ask his private secretary to get on to the Minister's private secretary and bring this to his attention. I know he will and I appreciate that. I put a lot of very specific questions to the Minister of State. The answer he has given me is more generalised, and that is fine. However, these specific questions need to be answered. The focus of the reply is very much on the question of homelessness, and let us be honest, these people are homeless right now. Some units are not usable at all while some probably will be usable after a bit of work. The Minister of State talked about the Government being willing to support Fingal in terms of providing homeless services, and I know our local authority works well, but I am interested in the responsibility of the landlord here because we are not talking about a small landlord or someone who has two or three apartments he or she lets out. This is a significant property development and rental company that has a significant number of units around the city and around the country. I do not know what its responsibility is in a situation like this. Does it have a responsibility to have some degree of insurance if something happens in one of its properties to be able to support tenants if a disastrous situation like this occurs? I ask for clarity on the immediate obligations of this landlord company to its tenants. Does it have to support them in terms of providing alternative accommodation? Do they have to support them in the context of providing alternative accommodation? How long will that last, or, as seems to be the case right now, are these tenants provided for up until tomorrow and then they have to fend for themselves? If that is the case, there is something significantly wrong with the legislative framework we have in place. I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I appeal to him to raise this with the Minister for housing and ask him to revert to me and other Deputies, including Deputy Currie, as quickly as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.21