Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated that he was a pragmatist, but if he were, he would have to recognise that the rental market has failed. When there is market failure, the Government must move in. Deputy Coveney cannot wash his hands of this matter as the Minister with responsibility. Like the previous Government, of which I was a member and a Tánaiste, the Minister has proposed a series of measures to build new homes, but he must acknowledge that it takes time to build even a rapid-build house. By the time that planning, site location and other issues are sorted, rapid-build houses can cost nearly as much as traditional ones and take much longer to build than was first outlined in the information provided to us.

Without taking away from the necessity to build new homes, the Minister must recognise that will take a long time. There will be a two-year to four-year gap before supply can catch up with market availability. In the meantime, the victims of an ever greedier cohort of landlords - not all landlords are like this and we have many good ones - are being placed under pressure by people who are making a bonanza out of renting to people who need to rent. I grew up in a rented house, so I can speak from childhood memory. The Minister could travel to Donegal and talk to voters and families in the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's constituency. Security of tenure was something that people in 19th century Ireland fought for and achieved. Unlike in most other parts of Europe, though, that security is significantly absent from the Irish property market now because of an ideological approach to the rights of the landlord versus the rights of the tenant. Will the Minister redress this situation? He will find no solution without doing that.

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