Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

We appear to be back in the same situation as a month ago, with the Minister confusing registration with licensing. The key issue is standards. According to today's Irish Independent, a report from the Institute of Public Health in Ireland warned that the death rate linked to damp houses in this country is among the highest in Europe. More than 2,800 Irish people die every winter after suffering the ill effects of living in cold and damp houses. Another report published in November by the State-funded Centre for Housing Research found that substandard housing is far more common among rent supplement properties than in the rest of the private housing sector. This demonstrates that there is no base minimum line for the rental sector, be it local authority or private. Local authorities should be operating minimum standards. The Minister is well aware that some local authority properties are well below an acceptable standard.

As I asked the Minister a month ago, will the Government consider introducing a licensing system for letting properties, both in the private and local authority sectors, which would guarantee key fundamental requirements such as, for example, central heating, proper insulation and hot and cold running water? A month ago the Minister confused the idea of registration with a licensing standard. He is correct that the PRTB has increased registration, but registration is an entirely different concept. We will continue to revisit this issue until the Minister deals with licensing. Will the Government consider the introduction of a licensing system?

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