Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her and her departmental staff on bringing forward this legislation. As she observed, the residential sector, particularly the private residential tenancies sector, is very different from what it was some years ago.

I first became interested in this issue when I worked as a census collector in the mid-1980s during my time in college. My assignment covered the Clarinda Park area of Dún Laoghaire where I encountered a number of properties comprising 13, 14 or 15 bedsits with one shared bathroom between four or five units. When one works as a census collector, it is often necessary to return to certain properties many times, as a result of which I became quite friendly with some of the residents in the area. I recall one particular woman who had retired from a very nice position, as it was at the time, as secretary to a senior partner in a law firm and was then living on a modest fixed pension. She was sharing a property with a number of returned immigrants who had been working on building sites in Britain.

They were lovely men but she was afraid to go to the bathroom after 6 p.m. and could not have a bath or a shower without bringing a tub of Domestos with her to clean out the bathroom after the men had used it. I remember thinking it was outrageous that someone could reach their 70s and be living like this. That was the private rented sector in the 1980s. We have come a long way in 20 years, from what was termed the forgotten sector to what is the Cinderella sector today. As the Minister of State pointed out, the sector has grown from just under 10% in the 2006 census to just under 20% today. It is a considerable growth in the rental sector. Part of the growth is due to the fact that successive Governments have taken seriously the regulation of the private rented sector. Much has been done and I will give credit to other Governments for what has been achieved in the area.

The Residential Tenancies Act was a key item of legislation in introducing security of tenure. Previously, irrespective of how long people had been living in rented homes, they could be given 28 days notice to vacate them unless they had leases. Many of the poorest people in Ireland did not live in properties where they had leases. The Act also allowed for out-of-court resolution of disputes, which was critical. Very few poor tenants can afford to access the courts. It also provided for a measure of rent certainty. Members may not remember but during the 1990s, rents increased by 60% in some parts of the country. The Act also clearly laid out the obligations of landlords and tenants in terms of what both parties are obliged to do. It is a two-sided coin.

At the time, many people said it would destroy the rented sector, with landlords exiting the sector like snow in front of the sun. That is not what happened. The feedback from many people is that legal clarity of regulation has helped to grow the rental sector in Ireland.

Progress has been slow in some areas, such as in the area of standards. Although we have had legislation that has significantly improved standards, in particular the 2008 and 2009 legislation, enforcement of those standards varies. Some local authorities, and I single out Dublin City Council, have been particularly robust in the administration of standards; others have been abysmally poor. As the Minister of State knows, I have called for a certification system, as opposed to the current system, like an NCT for rented housing so that no landlord is entitled to let housing without a certificate outlining the property is fit for purpose and complies with the standards. That would put the onus on the landlord to prove compliance rather than the current situation, which puts the onus on the local authority to prove non-compliance.

A number of points were made by Senator White about the PRTB and, as a former member of the board, I would like to address them. The PRTB has achieved a significant amount of improvement in its performance over the past number of years. When considering the number of cases dealt with by the PRTB in 2010 and the period of time in which it now rectifies disputes, its performance has improved substantially. It is also important to note that there are few disputes in the rented sector. That should be acknowledged. Out of 474,000 tenancies, only 2,230 cases came before the PRTB. This is a compliant sector, with a number of very serious areas where disputes occur. The Government is on track, in dealing with areas where disputes arise. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government to the introduction of a deposit protection scheme. It remains the biggest single issue for tenants living in Ireland and it is a significant contributor to the increased levels of homelessness that we have seen in the past 12 to 18 months.

Although it is not the subject matter of this legislation I also welcome the housing assistance payment which will be introduced by the Minister, Deputy Burton, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. This will give rental payments directly to landlords and will help with the issue of rental arrears, which is one of the two biggest issues along with deposit protection for tenants. The other significant and emerging issue is in the area of accommodation standards and their enforcement. Credit must be given to the PRTB for its work to date and for its achievements, albeit with reduced numbers of staff, as the Minister of State has acknowledged.

I welcome the inclusion of approved housing bodies in the Bill. It is certainly true that there has been a variable standard in the operation of approved housing bodies and it is time for that sector to join with the private rented sector and to adopt modernised regulation. The number of tenancies at 25,000 or fewer will not significantly undermine the PRTB. It is important to recognise that we have moved on as a country in this regard. I am not convinced that we will ever reach 80% home ownership again. Renting, whether social or private sector, is an important aspect of the choices available to people. There is widespread support, in my view, among the approved housing bodies for inclusion in this legislation which contains positive provisions for both landlords and tenants in that sector.

I refer to the more controversial elements such as the inclusion of provisions to facilitate the rapid resolution of cases of rent arrears. The payment of rent is the basic contract between landlord and tenant. I do not think anyone would argue that this is not the case. I have certain observations on the provisions in the legislation and I will make those observations at later Stages in this Bill. In a time of severe recession and with 30,000 buy-to-let landlords facing repossessions, there is a need for compliance with the requirement to pay rent. The housing assistance payment, HAP, when introduced, will help in that regard.

I welcome the introduction of the provision for deposit protection and that the Minister of State has introduced it in this House. It is a significant measure to which this House will give serious consideration. This Bill will contribute to the development of the private rented sector and also the social rented sector in so far as it is comprised of the voluntary housing associations. I favour its extension to social housing provided by local authorities and I await the Minister of State's comments on how she believes this could be achieved and the timescale for its inclusion. I congratulate the Minister of State for this piece of legislation and in particular for bringing forward measures which have been long awaited by Threshold and other voluntary organisations.