Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I also support the Bill, although, as Deputy Coppinger said, we need to go a hell of a lot further and we need to do it very fast. I do not understand the reticence being expressed by the Government and Fianna Fáil about the committee and so on. If this can roll in to highlight the issue, further indicate the urgency of it and roll into any good that comes out - I certainly hope something good comes out on Thursday - that is all to the good. However, it seems this is a minimal measure against which it is impossible to argue. I do not see what the problem is. In any event, after Second Stage it will go to further Stages after Thursday and we can discuss it there.

I say now to our Sinn Féin comrades that we need to go a hell of a lot further on rent, because this will not deal with the fact that rents are already out of control and need to be scaled back. We need models such as the Scottish model whereby something like a beefed-up PRTB goes into a place and specifies that a landlord cannot charge more than €1,100 for a specific dwelling. The Minister and Fianna Fáil keep referring to the market. The market has failed. Markets cannot be allowed to set rents. This model has failed. It is not a theoretical discussion any more, one that we can debate in university debating chambers.

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