Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and agree with its different aspects. The broadening of the definition of homelessness is necessary and reflects the reality that there are thousands upon thousands of people in a condition of homelessness. They perhaps do not fit people's traditional image of what homelessness is, which is generally equated with rough sleeping, which continues to persist in our society. However, to have thousands of people living on friends' couches or living in cars and vans is an absolute epidemic and it is getting worse on a daily basis.

The question is how those people are seen and treated. In that regard, I want to briefly refer to an incident that was filmed this morning on Chancery Lane in Dublin 8, and which appeared on the www.broadsheet.iewebsite. People should look at this online. The footage shows someone who is rough sleeping interacting with a garda and being pepper-sprayed and treated in a rough manner. At first viewing, this would seem be very troubling and deserves investigation as to what happened.

In regard to the question of rent controls, which I think essential, it is clear the Labour Party was beaten. I notice the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, did not turn up to the start of the debate last night and did not turn up again for the start of the debate today, as he did not turn up at the start of the Private Members' debate put forward by the Anti-Austerity Alliance on this question some weeks ago. He supposedly put up a great fight for rent control against Fine Gael, lost and is now entirely captured by the logic of Fine Gael that says we simply cannot have rent control because it would represent an interference with the market.

The reality is that rent controls exist. Nearly half of all rental homes in New York are rent controlled, Berlin has just introduced stricter rent controls and Sweden has a model whereby rents are negotiated by committees of tenants, local authorities and landlords. In a number of countries, rent controls do not exist in existing tenancies, which is all the so-called rent certainty of the Government proposes, but apply to new tenancies. We need proper rent controls, not the certainty of massive increases on a two-yearly basis that the Government offers us.

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