Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will probably be finished by then. I welcome the debate on the Bill which was brought to the House by the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O' Sullivan this summer. The debate on residential tenancies is timely. The Bill provides for significant reform of residential tenant-landlord agreements and will also bring the voluntary and co-operative housing sector under the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

Most, if not all, of us are familiar with the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, and the work it does in assisting tenants who are in dispute with landlords for a variety of reasons. The principal causes of disputes are the refusal by landlords to return deposits and the failure of tenants to pay rent on time. The PRTB has helped many people on both side of rental agreements since it was first established in 2004. The Bill is the first step towards the statutory regulation of tenancies in the voluntary and co­operative housing sector under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

Tenancies in the voluntary and co-operative housing sector will have to be registered in the PRTB, and the PRTB will then be responsible for the regulation of the tenant-landlord relationship in those properties. It is a two-way track and tenants must adhere to the rental accommodation rules. Likewise, landlords must treat residents as human beings, and look after their welfare and care. The change will bring greater transparency and accountability to the rental sector, which is badly needed. However, it is important to note that the addition of the voluntary and co-operative housing sector will further stretch the PRTB's scarce resources. In 2010, the PRTB received 2,230 applications for dispute resolution, and I can only imagine that including tenancies from the voluntary and co-operative housing sector will put significant pressure on the service when its staff numbers are being reduced. As a public representative I am familiar with people coming to my clinics who have problems with landlords and vice versa. The legislation we introduce will allow for more transparency and accountability for both landlords and tenants.

Voluntary housing associations are non-profit organisations. I am familiar with the work they do in Dublin. They play an increasingly active role in social housing provision right across the country. There are 700 voluntary and co-operative bodies in this country with approved status as housing bodies, but the ones with which I am most familiar in my area are the Iveagh Trust; Clúid Housing; Circle Housing; Oaklee Housing; Sophia Housing; Habitat for Humanity, which recently refurbished two beautiful houses in my constituency; and Fold Housing, which recently opened lovely apartments in Terenure. They all provide a high standard of accommodation and have a good relationship with their tenants. However, at present, those tenants do not have the same rights as private tenants, which is why the Bill is so important.

I have encountered a number of issues concerning tenants of voluntary housing associations, which are important to mention. If the Minister of State is not aware of the issues I encourage her to examine them. There must be clarification on how voluntary housing organisations assess tenants for rent if they are participating in community employment schemes. Some tenants are encountering problems with their rent being increased as their income from CE schemes is being taken into account. That does not happen in Dublin City Council because it does not take income from CE schemes into account. The practice is unfair as income from CE schemes is low and it is hard enough for people to get by without voluntary housing associations adding an extra burden on them.

Unfortunately, there is no provision in the Bill relating to rent arrears. I might have missed what the Minister of State said on the matter in her introduction. I believe she will address the issue on Committee Stage. Rent arrears are a problem for many housing agencies and landlords. A total of 31% of all disputes at the PRTB concern rent arrears, which is consuming a huge portion of PRTB resources. Furthermore, once a formal dispute is registered with the PRTB, tenants can remain in their rented property until the dispute is resolved, and are likely not to pay any rent during this period, which presents a major problem for the landlord. This anomaly must be addressed.

One further issue which is omitted from the Bill, and which must also be addressed is the lack of a deposit protection scheme. That would help to alleviate the frequent occurrence of landlords withholding deposits. I understand the PRTB was commissioned to carry out research on such a scheme and report back to the Minister of State with responsibility for housing. I sincerely hope she will act on the findings.

I note the Bill does not deal with the issue of anti-social behaviour problems in rented properties. This is a very serious matter and I have encountered it on many occasions. When people come to me, their public representative, with a complaint about a city council tenant living next door we always seem to be able to contact the city council and deal with the issue. Most times the problem is resolved. However, if there is a private tenant living next door who causes trouble it is very difficult to find anybody who will take responsibility. I know the Minister of State will consider that point. In private tenancies, there are no guidelines or provisions to deal with such problems and this can cause great upset for every neighbour on the road. Recently I met a lady who had such tenants living beside her. She told me she was considering selling her house because of what was happening. She had been trying for a number of weeks to contact the landlord and was still having difficulty. When people have lived in an area for a long time this is most disheartening. The problem was that the people in question were not city council tenants and therefore it was very difficult to deal with the situation.

I fully support the establishment of a voluntary housing organisation, especially as the city council and local authorities no longer have the same housing stock to give out as they had in the past. There are good reasons for that - people are now able to buy homes at reduced rates and families can stay in the community where they were born, thereby becoming extended families. Most public representatives will find significant problems in the area of housing because there is not enough social housing stock. I welcome organisations such as Clúid Housing and Circle Housing and all the others I mentioned because they are an alternative and offer people an opportunity to get good accommodation and decent living quarters with, for the most part, fair management. There are some problems here and there.

I welcome the Bill and hope that all the little problems that speakers have highlighted will be taken on board when the Bill is examined on Committee Stage. I thank the Minister of State for her honesty and her earlier words. I commend the Bill to the House.

See this speech in context