Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing Barry Cowen TD said the Minister should have acted to prevent mass evictions from occurring.
Deputy Cowen blamed Minister Coveney after he rejected a key amendment to the Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 last December which would have prevented mass evictions from taking place.
Deputy Cowen said: "In recent months we have seen an increase in the number of mass evictions taking place as a result of Minister Coveney's failure to strengthen tenancy rights. The legislation put forward by Minister Coveney originally sought to prohibit landlords from evicting 20 or more families in a single development when the sale of the property is cited.
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"Fianna Fáil introduced an amendment which sought to reduce this figure to five in light of the attempted mass eviction at Tyrrelstown. This amendment offered more secure occupancy to a larger number of tenants, without infringing constitutional rights or having a detrimental impact on the rental market.
"However Minister Coveney rejected our amendment at the last minute and re-raised the number of units to 10 in a single development. This decision removed tens of thousands of potential properties from the coverage of the provision.
"It's ridiculous to see Minister Coveney attempting to personally intervene for the 8 families in Grove Island when you consider the fact that he had the chance to prevent such mass evictions from occurring as recently as last December. He made a deliberate decision before Christmas to disregard the plight of families in rented accommodation when he chose to side with vulture funds.
"Fianna Fáil believe that changes are needed which give greater security to a larger number of tenants without leading to the infringement of constitutional rights and widespread uncertainty in the rental sector."
(CD/MH)
