Various Covid Reliefs
Residential tenants 2020
The Act introduces a number of measures with the aim of mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on residential tenants.
Where there is a non-payment of rent, the RTA requires a landlord to serve a 14 day notice in writing on the tenant declaring the amount of rent due and unpaid before serving a notice of termination. The new legislation extended this notice period to 28 days. However it will not be valid unless served after the emergency period.
Any increase in rent (whether notified to the tenant before or during the emergency period) shall not take effect during this time.. Any tenant upon whom a notice of termination has been served prior to the emergency period shall be entitled to remain in occupation of the dwelling until the expiration of the emergency period unless:
They are required to vacate the dwelling in accordance with a determination of an adjudicator. They are required to vacate the dwelling in accordance with a determination of a tribunal of the Residential Tenancies Board.
The enhanced tenancy protections under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 (the RTVA), which prohibit evictions and rent increases for tenants with Covid-19 related rent arrears who are at risk of losing their tenancy expired on 10 January 2021.2
Residential Tenants 2021
The emergency period means the period from 11 January 2021 to 12 April 2021.
These  new protections shall apply where the tenant:
- makes the necessary written declaration that he or she is unable to pay rent due on foot of Covid-19 and is at risk of losing his or her tenancy; and
- at the same time, serves a notice on the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) requesting assistance to obtain advice from the Money and Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS); and
- within 5 days of making his or her declaration, serves a notice on his or her landlord seeking a consultation to make an arrangement to pay their rent due.
The new Part 3 also applied to tenants who have made a declaration under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, subject to certain conditions.
There is provision for a counter-declaration by a landlord to disapply the protections. Similar to a tenant declaration, it shall be an offence for a landlord to make a declaration that is false or misleading.
No rent increase can take effect during the emergency period and no increase in rent will be payable in respect of any time during that period.
The RTB tenancy tribunals are not required to be held in public during the period to 12 April 2021.
The provisions in Part 3 (Residential Tenancies) will operate on a temporary basis and will impose no cost on the Exchequer; the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) will operate within existing resources.
Changes to Redundancy Payments legislation
The Act brings about significant changes to the rights of employees who are on lay-off and short-time in circumstances where there is a cessation or reduction in the work normally carried out by those employees and the employer reasonably believes that the cessation or reduction will be of a temporary nature.
In normal circumstances, an employee can serve notice on the employer of their intention to claim a redundancy payment where they have been laid off or placed on short-time for a period of four or more consecutive weeks, or for a series of six weeks within a thirteen week period.
However, Part 8 of the 2020 Act recognises that it may not be possible for employers to determine when an employee may be able to return to work.
Accordingly, Part 8 provides that employees on layoff or short time will not be in a position to claim a redundancy payment where the lay off or short time is as a result of measures required to be taken by his or her employer in order to comply with, or as a consequence of, Government policy to prevent, limit, minimise or slow the spread of infection of COVID-19.
The emergency period for these changes is the period beginning 13 March 2020 and ending 31 May 2020.
Health professionals
The Act now provides for a smoother and more simplified process of recruiting retired health sector workers who wish to respond to the COVID-19 emergency.
The relevant professions include:
Dentists
Health and Social Care Professionals (such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers, speech and language therapists etc.)
Pharmacists
Doctors
Nurses and Midwives
Mental health during this crisis
The Act facilitates the ongoing operation of mental health tribunals and increases the number of psychiatrists available to the tribunal. The period in which the tribunal must make decisions on individual cases is also extended by the Act.
In response to the crisis and to minimise physical contact, the Act also allows for one-member tribunals and for a second psychiatrist to examine a patient remotely.
Defence Forces
Legislation which allows retired soldiers to re-join the Defence Forces has been in the pipeline for a number of months and has now been fast tracked under the new Act in response to COVID-19.
The amendments introduced will enable former members of the Defence Forces to re-join at the rank they left with no penalties.
Statutory deadlines in relation to planning and development
The Act provides that deadlines in relation to the following shall be disregarded:
- Planning and Development Act 2000,
- Certain sections of the Building Control Act 1990,
- The Derelict Sites Act 1990,
- Part 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015,
- Portions of the Strategic Housing legislation.
Civil Registration
The amendments in relation to civil registration aim to ensure that this service can effectively continue throughout the duration of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Requirements to attend in person before the registrar to register a life event have been temporarily removed by the Act in order to facilitate self-isolation and social distancing.
The intention is that the necessary particulars required for a registration can be submitted by email or by post and that a signature can be obtained when the emergency has passed.