Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Dublin City Council, and particularly the individual concerned with enforcing minimum standards in private rented accommodation, on its recent sweep of substandard properties in the city and its bringing 70 landlords before the courts for their failure to meet minimum standards of accommodation. Unfortunately, the reality is that in the current environment, in which rents are rising at an unprecedented rate, many tenants on low incomes, particularly tenants receiving rent supplement, are forced to accept substandard accommodation. A significant number of local authorities are not enforcing the minimum standards of accommodation, which means that many families in Ireland are living in poor-quality housing, often damp, cold and with mould. Some lack basic bathroom facilities and some do not meet fire safety standards. I admire the tenacity of Dublin City Council in the enforcement of minimum standards of accommodation. I ask the Leader for a debate on the rental sector, standards of accommodation, and how current rising rents and the failure of the rent supplement arrangement to permit people to access appropriate quality accommodation are putting some of the poorest people into, dare I say, Strumpet City slum-type accommodation that should not be accepted in the 21st century.