Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Bill, although targeting the urban housing crisis, reflects the greater nationwide housing crisis. The housing crisis is multidimensional and involves not just the issue of construction and housing supply but also market prices, landlord-tenant relationships, the availability of appropriate housing and the maintenance of existing social housing. The Bill will do little in addressing the housing issue in County Donegal. It is intended to target large urban areas such as Dublin and Cork, although certain aspects of it may be applicable to rural counties also. It is vital to note that the housing crisis was foreseen a long time ago, but the Government refused to act on it before it became the nationwide crisis we are experiencing. It is at the stage where it will probably take a generation to solve it. I am in no doubt that it will become the hallmark of the Government which has become reactionary as opposed to progressive.

I will focus on the situation in County Donegal, in particular, the consequences of the lack of real investment in rural Ireland during the years and the slow attempt to develop these areas. Even though the homelessness crisis is not visible, as experienced in Dublin and Cork and other major urban areas, owing to the unique housing problem in rural counties such as my own, fundamental housing issues still need to be addressed. The situation in County Donegal is quite different from that seen in Dublin and Cork. In Donegal there is a large number of vacant housing units in rural parts of the county because the demand for housing in rural areas has dropped significantly. People have been migrating steadily to the larger towns and urban centres such as Letterkenny to work. The urban-focused strategy of IDA Ireland is much to blame for this internal migration, alongside a consistent lack of rural development, including, for example, access to high speed broadband.

When we look at the issue of broadband, we find we are not investing in rural communities. The Government has made it unsustainable to live in rural Ireland. While 36,000 premises in the north west, including counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, have access to high speed broadband to date, 85,900 premises have to rely on the national broadband scheme to provide services for them. Building of the network will not begin until possibly late 2016 and it will take another three to five years to complete. People in some areas in County Donegal may have to wait until 2021 or 2022 to secure access to high speed broadband.

Until we see this investment taking place, an investment that allows people to live and sustain themselves in rural areas, migration from rural to urban areas will increase and the pressure on housing supply in places such as Letterkenny will continue, resulting in higher rents and house prices. In these areas there is a strong reliance on rent supplement or the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme, which is currently being rolled out.

With regard to HAP and the rent supplement scheme, there are currently over 70,000 households in Ireland whose homes are paid for through the rent supplement scheme, costing the State over €298 million so far in 2015. In Donegal, there were 1,686 rent supplement recipients at the end of May 2015. Rent supplement is not in line with rising market rents. There is no targeting of out-of-control rent increases across the country and the Government is slow to have the rent supplement reflect this increase. It has consistently stated that its overarching concern is that raising rent limits may not be the solution, as it is likely to add to rent inflation and could also impact on low income workers. It claims that increasing rent supplement limits will cause inappropriate pricing floors and families will be priced out of affordable accommodation in their area of choice. I have even heard the Government say that analysis shows there are properties available in the Donegal area within the current maximum rent limits. However, I regularly meet people in my constituency who are struggling to find appropriate accommodation. One woman, a lone parent, did find properties in County Donegal that were within the current maximum rent limits. In fact, she found three. Two of them were absolutely inappropriate for a family and the third was a mobile home.

The limits are set by the Government. The HAP scheme will be the same, as there are the same rent limits in that scheme. The only difference is that the black market for landlords has been removed somewhat because one declares the full rent on the application form for HAP. Some tenants are forced to top-up their rent supplement illegally to get appropriate accommodation. The scheme has essentially created a black market for landlords who charge a higher rate on the side. A Threshold survey in 2014 claimed nearly half of rent supplement recipients were doing this, which proves it is a totally ineffective system. It also found that this topping-up practice was affecting the spend in other areas. What is the response of the Department of Social Protection to this? It says those people are committing fraud by lying on the forms. It is not dealing with the issue, just blaming the people who are forced into that situation by Government decisions. The Government has put in place some preventative measures to ensure people are not at risk of becoming homeless. However, these measures do not really deal with the issue.

The private rental sector has more than doubled in size in recent years, with one in five families living in rented accommodation. The families have been dubbed "generation rent" because they might not have the opportunity to own a home for another generation. It means increased contact with private landlords who are not caught by the legislation. Tenants are increasingly vulnerable as a result. Threshold and other housing organisations have progressive ideas to increase rent certainty for tenants. It is imperative that work on this begins as soon as possible.

Landlords are also demanding higher deposits in line with rent increases. They often hold onto deposits when there is a dispute with a tenant or in the wrong circumstances. The Government should introduce a deposit scheme, where moneys are held by a third party such as the Private Residential Tenancies Board, not by the landlord. Disputes could be resolved in a fair manner and tenants could get their deposits back. There is also the issue of landlords having the right to refuse people with rent supplement. We are not protecting people against discrimination based on their social status. There is a commitment to change this in legislation but we have yet to see it.

Increasing construction will not be the solution to this situation, especially to homelessness. Even where there is housing supply, access to the supply can be a problem and barriers remain in place. Donegal has an over-supply in rural parts of the county. According to the 2011 statistics, there are over 300,000 empty homes in Ireland. That includes 60,000 vacant holiday homes and 4,000 empty local authority homes. The report states that if current population trends are sustained, housing over-supply will take 43 years to clear. This excludes holiday homes from unoccupied houses in the calculations. If holiday dwellings are included in the calculations, the over-supply will take 57 years to clear. Donegal is one of the counties worst affected by the over-supply.

While supply is not an issue in Donegal, access to appropriate housing is. There are examples of innovative schemes. Wales, for example, has a holistic approach to community housing needs in rural areas. It does not just target supply needs, but also the need for quality and choice of housing that is suitable for prospective tenants. It also provides for community facilities, such as a community house, to be provided within schemes. I believe that should be introduced in this country as well. This innovative scheme directly addresses the house price to low income ratio, which is the fundamental problem in Ireland. The ethos of its range of housing schemes is to bring about wider economic and community benefits while playing a key role in providing affordable housing in rural communities.

To conclude, I wish to expand on the concept of a right to housing, which I promoted in my economic, social and cultural rights Bill that was debated in the House last month. This would create an impetus towards a healthier housing sector, making accountability a strong force in the decision-making process. In the courts people can only argue against peripheral issues, as opposed to the fundamental issue of a right to housing. For example, they can only argue unfair procedures in accessing housing. If a right to housing was implemented, there would be a trickle-down effect into policy through every level of power. It would ensure that policies were directed towards that right rather than towards expediency.

If the right to housing was introduced, it would not mean a person would be given a house automatically and immediately. It would mean that when the Government is drafting housing policy it would have to be aware of, and take account of, the right to housing and make policy with this in mind. It is intended to hold Governments to account, not dismantle them. If they do not have the resources, they will at least have to show how they arrived at the best possible solution within the available resources. This right is even more important now, as we are under the whim of this reactionary Government whose response to a crisis is to perpetuate it. If more accountability had been imposed on those who are responsible for housing policy, we might not be in the current situation.

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