Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The number of people who have been forced into the private rented sector has effectively doubled in Ireland. The private rented sector is the sector of insecurity, stress, poverty and homelessness. Some 40 years ago, local authorities provided one third of all housing in this State. Today, the corresponding provision is minuscule. Instead, low-income families are forced into the private rented sector, yet the State subsidises the rents of one third of all private landlords instead of actually building homes. It spends €5.5 billion in rent supplement.

It has been clear for a number of years - this is not new - that Government inaction on rocketing rents has led to homelessness. I support tonight's Bill. However, I believe it is the very minimum that is needed. On its own it would be inadequate because my reading of it is that it applies only to existing tenancies. However, I fully support the Bill.

We actually need rents to come down. Does the Minister think the current rent levels are acceptable? I know of low-paid workers with families who are paying €1,400 in rent for not very nice houses - very substandard accommodation. That is what people in Tyrrelstown threatened by vulture funds are paying. I hope the Minister does not think that is acceptable. If he does not think it is acceptable, I am mystified as to why he is telling us tonight that we need to slow down and not move too fast. Rents in my area have gone up by €341 in two years.

I heard the Minister say earlier that the measures the Government put in place last year were beginning to work. He obviously did not read the daft.ierental report, which shows a fifteenth consecutive quarter of rent increases. Professor P. J. Drudy has testified that all that has happened is that rents have doubled to get around the very limited rent certainty measures introduced by the former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. It was not the Constitution that prevented the former Minister from introducing rent controls last year; it was a concerted campaign by what Professor P. J. Drudy called the Irish and international property investment groups - companies such as Kennedy Wilson that wrote to the Department of Finance suggesting that it not proceed. I hope that is not what the hesitation of the Minister tonight is about, because the dogs in the street know that this is the very minimum needed. It is a matter of urgency. Does the Minister have any sense of an emergency when he stands over there and suggests that we should not move too fast? We do not need a housing committee to tell us this is needed; it is obviously needed. It is the very minimum required, and the Minister should not shirk from bringing it in. We need to go further and introduce proper rent controls that stop new leases and new tenancies from being rack-rented and entire apartment blocks from being built out and rents of €2,000 or €2,500 being charged for them. The Minister needs to get with the programme. We need rent certainty. We need rent controls now.

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