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

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. We have heard many excuses from the Government about why we cannot have rent certainty, which is one of the measures that is needed to deal with the issue. We have a crisis but the Government's response to date has amounted to sticking-plaster solutions. Very little was done to address the crisis for the past three to four years and as the election draws near, some attempt is being made to put in place measures to deal with increasing rents. Those measures will not work. We must have effective rent regulations but these are not among the Government's proposals.

We also have a crisis because of the supply of local authority housing. There has been a bias, not just on the part of the Government but also on that of those which preceded it, in the provision of local authority housing. We have moved away from that and handed the rental sector over to private landlords, voluntary housing bodies, developers or, in effect, anybody who would take on the challenge. We have thrown money at those solutions. We have been highlighting the issue for years. Since the 1990s, Sinn Féin councillors throughout the country have been highlighting the problem. It is unfortunate that the situation has mushroomed into a crisis that we are now trying to address.

Modular houses are among the solutions that have been presented. When I first heard about modular housing , I thought it was fair enough as an emergency solution. Now, however, there are reports that modular units could cost as much as €190,000 each. I do not know whether that is the cost of the unit or whether it also includes development charges for the site and the cost of providing services. Could the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, please clarify the amount involved? One can provide local authority houses for less than €190,000, even in Dublin. If that is the case, it would amount to a considerable cost and would require a significant outlay for what is being hailed as a temporary solution.

We have the scandalous situation where a substantial number of properties are still on the books of NAMA and the IBRC. The properties could be provided and work could be completed on them for a fraction of the proposed cost of the modular housing. That would be far better than throwing money at private landlords and developers. We could also use some more of the new houses that are supposed to be provided by NAMA. The State has asked NAMA to build 20,000 new houses, a maximum of 2,000 of which will be provided as social housing. We could have 50% of the allocation going to social housing, as that is where the need is at present. I urge the Government to examine the matter again.

Another issue of concern is the amount of rent provided to people in receipt of rent subsidy. The cost of private rented accommodation has increased by 35% since the Government came to office. In the past year alone rents have increased by 12.8% in Kildare and 13.4% in Laois for a three-bedroom house. The increases are significant but the rent cap has not been increased. In County Laois at present a family of two adults and two children are supposed to be able to rent for €480, the maximum provided to them to rent a house but one cannot rent a family home for €480. I defy anybody to find one. The Simon Community carried out a survey which found that no property was available to rent in Portlaoise for that amount.

In the time remaining, I wish to deal with voids. The Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, have talked a great deal about this issue in the past two years. I welcome some of the progress that has been made but now, on one hand, the Government is saying it will deal with the issue of voids while, on the other, regulations have been put in place that will give rise more voids. The regulations that have been introduced force local authorities to advertise houses considered to be abandoned in the local press. After a month they must advertise the property again in the local press. First, the fact that the house is vacant is being advertised. Local authorities can only board up houses in specific circumstances, which leaves them open to squatters and vandalism. The system is unworkable. The Minister of State will hear that from officials in local authorities around the country in the coming weeks. We are opening up a hole in the existing local authority housing stock, which is already small enough. The pool of social housing is small enough and this will create a black hole that cannot be tenanted. It will cost a lot of money to refurbish abandoned houses. People on local authority housing lists are being denied houses. The Government must examine the matter again. Rents are not being collected on such properties and local authorities are losing rent also. Everyone is losing in that situation. The Minister is saying he is committed to ensuring voids are filled quickly but the situation to which I refer will give rise to problems. It is already causing difficulties in some areas.

The Minister must bin the new regulations and revert to the old system concerning houses that are abandoned in order that they might be brought back into use quickly and tenants put into them. People are on the waiting lists for up to ten years. I will not repeat what has been said about the homelessness crisis but the situation is having an effect, not only on housing but also on people's health, the education of children and people's mental health. This is a crisis and the Government must use all the methods available to it to address it. I urge the Government to take the matter seriously as it has not done so up to now.

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