Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It gives some kind of framework. However, it is not used and has not always been satisfactory. The big problem is the delay. It can take a year or two years for a case to get through the door, get under way and for progress to be made. That is too long. Sometimes within a year or 18 months the tenant in question may have moved two or three times. It is chaotic. In the case of a dispute over a tenancy 18 months ago, we may as well forget about it, move on and take the loss at that stage. In the absence of beefing up the Private Residential Tenancies Board and changing legislation for more long-term and secure tenancies in this country, the Government should not proceed. I maintain the Government should not proceed with this in any event, but to proceed with it in the current circumstances is lunacy.

The Minister or whoever comes after him will be dealing with the problems of increased numbers of homeless. The health service is the most important thing in the State. It is about life and death. The next most important thing is housing. Last Christmas, the Minister put homelessness at the top of his agenda and the Opposition parties rode in behind him. Some short-term measures were put in place.

See this speech in context