Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Last week we had the anniversary of the tragic death of Jonathan Corrie. Ever since his death, the homeless situation and the number of those sleeping rough have continued to spiral. It is clear the Government's policies are not working and that it has failed to deliver. Under current housing legislation, there is no definition of a person at risk of homelessness, which limits the introduction of preventative measures. This means measures to address homelessness are focused exclusively on those who have already lost their homes. This leads to a cycle of people coming in and out of homelessness without any effective measures to reduce overall numbers through preventative measures.

Rents are not solely to blame, as they have been widely inflated by the shortage of social housing. However, inflated rents are now the main cause of people losing their homes and becoming homeless. The over-reliance on the private market to provide housing by the current and previous Governments has left poor and low income families vulnerable to the whim of the market, which has no care for their basic need for a home but cares only for profit. Rents have soared in recent years, to a point where many tenants pay in excess of 50% of their income in rent and suffer the hardship this causes, while all the time fearing the next rent increase will be the one that sees them homeless. Their desperation is only compounded by the absolute lack of options, as social housing is not being built and private developers show no interest in bringing any affordability to the market.

We are faced with many facets of a serious housing and homelessness crisis, but it is clear that the Government is not doing enough and what it is doing is being done far too late. The Government will attack this Bill, but the numbers make the reality clear for those who care to look at them. We have 130,000 people on social housing waiting lists, some 40,000 more than when the Government took office. We have nearly 100,000 people receiving some kind of rent support, amounting to approximately €500 million in subsidised rents for landlords every year. This is the same as was provided in 2011, but under a different name.

We have fewer homes for rent than ever before and higher rents than ever. Some 17,000 homeowners face eviction. Buy to let mortgage holders are in crisis, with tenants also facing losing their homes. The banks are riding rough shod over mortgage holders and any tenants they may have. We have at least 5,000 homeless people and over 100 people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin each night. All this time, the Government is building fewer homes than for decades. Rent supplement has been cut twice and the Government has reduced Part V responsibilities for developers.

This needs a comprehensive response and a major package of investment and regulation by the Government. All we have been offered is window dressing, spin and more spin.

Whatever the solution is, it has not been proposed by the Government. That is why we have brought this Bill before the House tonight, not as the one true solution but as a moderate, simple and positive measure which improves on what the Government has accepted is needed. If Government Deputies are serious about preventing homelessness and providing certainty for renters, they will support this Bill. If they do not, then it will be clear that they are talking out of both sides of their mouths.

As I have said, this Bill is no silver bullet that will solve all of the problems in the rental market. It will not end homelessness in isolation or deliver housing where there is none. It does not claim or set out to do those things, and neither I nor my party claim that it will. It will, however, provide for preventative measures against homelessness and give certainty to tenants who have seen their rent go up repeatedly over the last five years.

This is a proposal that has long been called for by groups such as Focus Ireland, the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust and Threshold, among others, which are on the front line of homelessness and housing issues. Although the Government might not accept those groups' expertise in this regard, it is all too ready to hand off responsibility for providing housing to such bodies, along with supports for those who are made homeless by Government policy. Focus Ireland and Threshold are good enough to run the Department of Social Protection's schemes to help those on rent supplement who are unable to afford increases, but it seems they are not good enough to be listened to on how to resolve the wider issue of unaffordable rents. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, famously remarked on his irritation at their critique of his failures.

This Bill should not be looked at in isolation but as a part of a wider strategy to deal with the housing crisis through intervention by the State in terms of both regulations and the provision of real social housing through local authorities. Some Members of the Government will try to pretend that rents are no longer an issue due to the Minister's plans to delay rent reviews for an extra 12 months. They will describe this as a rent freeze, but everyone else can see that it is simply kicking the can down the road. It is welcome only in the sense that it provides the space for more comprehensive and effective policies to be implemented under a new Government. Many tenants have already seen their rent increase considerably in recent months and weeks, as the foot-dragging of Fine Gael and the Labour Party allowed landlords to prepare for these new measures.

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