Mr. Bob Jordan:

I will address the crisis in the private rental sector. To some extent, the private rental sector has been used as a solution or alternative to social housing in the past decade. Unfortunately, we are now in circumstances in which the sector itself is in crisis and creating problems.

It is worth reminding ourselves that one in five families in Ireland lives in the private rental sector. It is not the Cinderella of housing anymore. It is not a waiting-room for home ownership but a place where people are putting down roots. Ten years ago, we decided people would have security in the private rental sector for up to four years. That is quite basic security. It is being undermined at present by rocketing rents. This really means people are being economically evicted from their homes. Unfortunately, it is not only single people who are ending up homeless but also families with children.

Let me focus on what we regard as three solutions, to be implemented in the period before the social housing supply really comes on stream. Rent supplement is a problem. The rent supplement budget has been cut quite significantly over the past couple of years. On the question of whether rent supplement limits are too high or low, we know they do not control the market. They do not represent the real rents because up to 50% of people coming to us in receipt of rent supplement are paying top-ups. People are not protected by the limits. In other words, if one's landlord decides to increase one's rent above the limit, one is not protected by the law. That can happen and the PRTB will stand over a rent review.

In the forthcoming budget, rent supplement limits need to be increased. We need to protect the budget. Obviously, that needs to be done in a targeted way, particularly in urban centres, bearing in mind the most vulnerable household types. Much rigidity has crept into the system over recent years during the period of austerity. The staff who are meeting people at risk of homelessness and who work for the State need to have greater flexibility to give people more rent supplement where they need it to remain in their homes. Obviously, savings are being made in the rent supplement scheme. The pertinent figure has reduced from approximately €0.5 billion to €344 million this year. This is partly attributable to improvements in the economy and people getting jobs. Any savings that are made in the rent supplement system for that reason should be ring-fenced to provide flexibility for others who need the support. The money should not go back into the main coffers.

We would like to see the housing assistance payment rolled out as soon as possible because it deals with some of the flaws in the rent supplement system, particularly in terms of direct payments to landlords, verifying the standard of the property, and one's opportunity to take up work while still getting some help with housing costs. We support the housing assistance payment as a measure because, to some extent, it offers some of the benefits of being in local authority housing to people who are currently in the private rental sector.

The big argument that has been put forward against increasing rent supplement limits is that the State should not be chasing the market. The State is either in the market paying market rents or it tries to control market rents. Therefore, the issue of rent control is on the table. It is certainly a practice we believe needs to be introduced to protect people in their homes. People are facing rent increases of 30% to 50%. Clearly, welfare payments are not increasing to that extent, nor are salaries. We need to have protectable rent increases. Thus, when people enter a tenancy and pay the market rent, they will know the rent increases they will face. We believe this arrangement should be introduced.

Countries that have or which we refer to as having a much better private rental sector, including Germany, the Netherlands and France, are all considering rent control measures at present. There is a study taking place in Camden on rent control. This is an issue across the table in Europe. Most people would agree that Ireland's property market is in a much worse state than that in many of the other countries that are introducing rent controls.

I was very pleased that this committee launched a report last week on the mortgage arrears resolution process. Within that, there are two recommendations on the buy-to-let sector. One is that where receivers are appointed to buy-to-let properties, both the letter and spirit of the residential tenancies legislation should be applied. In other words, people's rights should be upheld in terms of notice periods, getting back their deposit, repairs, etc. People's conditions in their property should not deteriorate. I ask the committee to support what we believe needs to be done to operationalise what I propose. This involves an amendment to the residential tenancies legislation stipulating receivers must step into the shoes of the landlord. In other words, they must take on all the responsibilities for the landlord. This must be explicit in the legislation.