Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Some incredible statements were made in the course of the debate this morning. A lot of them were made by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who said the rental sector is working well for most landlords and tenants. He also said he felt the Government was striking a balance between the interests of renters and those of landlords. I do not think too many of the renters who are paying more than 50% of their disposable income in rent - according to Threshold, that is a third of all renters - would agree with that. I do not think renters who are paying the average, which is more than 40% of disposable income, would agree with it either. These sky-high rents are causing stress and poverty.

In many cases, they are causing the over-30s to stay at home with their parents. It is defeating the Taoiseach's vision of a greater level of home ownership in society because people cannot afford to buy their homes as they have spent all their money on rent - down the drain, dead end money - forcing increasing numbers of young people to emigrate. As I stated, when the next official figures on emigration are released, we will see the scale of what is going on here. People are being forced out by the housing crisis, with the rent issue a key part of that.

I noted with interest the comments of the Chair that landlords in the Dáil should declare their interests before the vote takes place tonight. That point was not made by a People Before Profit-Solidarity Deputy; it was made by the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Verona Murphy, who was chairing the Dáil session, and it should be noted. I would like to see a declaration of interests before the vote tonight. Deputy Murphy is right. We have a landlord Dáil being run by a landlord Government. Within society, landlords make up 5% of the population. It is a pretty big multiple of that in this place. Last July, the Government won a vote on similar legislation by 14 votes. Without those votes, it would be a different story.

The point was made that there will be an exodus of landlords from the market if this Bill is passed. If landlords exit the market, that can be dealt with through the State becoming the tenant's new landlord by purchasing the property. When it comes to the REITs, I am not sure whether the State would be purchasing or seizing the property but that is a debate we will have another day with the big corporate landlords. That would provide a roof over people's heads, fixity of tenure and a decent rent. It is what this Bill is about and it should be voted for by the Dáil tonight.

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