Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputies Stagg, Burton and O'Shea.

I was amazed to hear the comments of Deputy Andrews to the effect that rent in rural Ireland has been reduced because in my constituency of Kildare South, that is not the case. Rented accommodation has become so scarce that people are now speculating in new houses. Houses valued at €300,000 or €400,000 are being leased because of the lack of rented accommodation. This leads to problems with availability of accommodation for those unfortunate enough to have to seek it.

Previous speakers have talked about the poor condition of some accommodation and this is what is available to people on social welfare. Landlords are in a position to let such properties because of the scarcity of rental accommodation. There are people from Connemara, Cork and so forth, buying houses in Athy that they have never seen and letting them to people on rent supplement. That is the position and Deputy Andrews is totally off the mark when he suggests rent payments are on the decrease in rural Ireland.

There is a number of aspects to the housing problem. With regard to housing co-operatives and rent supplement, the problem is there is no cap on rent, which means people on low incomes or on social welfare must stay in those houses and cannot use them as their first step onto the property ladder. Such people cannot try to improve their job opportunities because if they do, a pound for pound situation pertains and their rents increase. Any benefit that might accrue from their efforts to better themselves goes to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government through the local authority.

I ask the Minister to address this issue and put a cap on rents to enable such people to get into a position where they can buy those houses. They will remain in those houses anyway because there is no legislation in place that will move them on. They will always be tenants so the benefit to the Government of not capping rents is minimal. More houses cannot be gleaned from these situations because people will stay put. I cannot see why successive Ministers have not addressed this issue. The Minister of State should put a five year cap on tenancy and after five years, address the question of rent and allow the tenants to purchase the houses, to create a sense of community to the betterment of everyone in the area.

My constituency colleague, Deputy Ó Fearghaíl, who spoke earlier has been more involved in this area. He would be the first to say that housing co-operatives would be a success if a cap was put on the rent and then, after a period of time, tenants were allowed to purchase the houses.

See this speech in context