Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make a few comments before we go back for a second round. I thank all the witnesses for their presentations. My comments do not reflect on anyone; it is just the situation we are in at present. We must admit that the current system is not fit for purpose and that something radical needs to happen in respect of the rental market. When I talk about the rental market, I do not just mean the private market; I mean the public side of it as well. One of the disadvantages of this is that the biggest landlord, namely, the State is itself, is outside the regime. It needs to be brought into whatever the future regime will be. The NCT system as a model has been mentioned and is thrown out there a lot. When it was mentioned years ago in the context of the motor trade, it was said it probably was not workable and could not happen. It is now becoming an acceptable part of life, and we now have just over 2 million vehicles registered in Ireland that must go through an NCT system.

We also introduced the building energy rating system, BER, which is now a standard part of life. These things can be done. I agree that it takes time and that resources must be put behind it.

An inspection system would have two different aspects, one of which would be the physical structure of the building and whether the layout, ventilation, fire alarms and so on complied with the regulations. This would a physical inspection that could be carried out. This should be done regularly and no new tenancies should be signed up without that inspection being done. That should be the starting point and it should then be reviewed every so often. Critically, an unannounced inspection regime should also be brought in. We should target 20% to 25% of all properties with unannounced inspections to deal with overcrowding, equipment not being in place and issues around damp. This would be an holistic approach, but with two different systems. It can be done if the will is there to do it. As a society it needs to be done. Social and local authority housing has to be brought into the system but would a local authority inspect itself by being its own inspector? Would we rely on the private sector to do this? Would we rely on the Residential Tenancies Board? In fairness, it would not be very hard for the local authorities to inspect themselves and maybe another approach needs to be taken in how we do it. We must, however, achieve an NCT-style system where the physical structure of the building is inspected before anybody can occupy it, and then we need a target of 20% to 25% of unannounced inspections annually on rental properties, which would deal with day-to-day issues of overcrowding, damp and lack of equipment. These are just a few issues I wanted to raise, and if anyone would like to come back in, they are more than welcome.