Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----behind the confidence-and-supply arrangement and not taking a position on anything. If I have time, I will return to that matter.

I point out to the House that the origins of the Bill - I think Deputy Ó Broin would concede this - lie in a campaign initiated by SIPTU, the Communications Workers Union, CWU, IMPACT, Mandate, Unite, the Civil Public & Services Union, CPSU, and a civil society organisation called Uplift, and supported by the Dublin Tenants Association. I was very happy to sign the Bill on behalf of my colleagues in the Labour Party because it constitutes very much an act of solidarity across the left in this House and in other parts of society. I make no apologies for being part of that and I congratulate Deputy Ó Broin on drafting the Bill and inviting others among us to sign it. This is a focused campaign and a focused Bill, both of which are most urgently needed. The legislation is designed to protect tenants from spiralling rents, short-term leases and summary eviction if their homes are being sold.

The latest Dublin rough sleeper count published today, which showed that 142 people slept out in the cold on 22 November, represents the reality of those whose plight is most extreme. However, there are thousands more individuals and families in emergency accommodation and thousands more again who have a real fear that they will lose their homes through exorbitant rent increases or eviction because the properties are being sold or their leases are running out. These people cannot wait until more homes are built. They need security now.

The Minister has outlined various measures to increase supply, and I understand that they are being put in place. They are welcome but they take time. In the meantime, there are people who simply cannot afford their rent any more or who are in danger of losing their homes. The most recent report by daft.ie, to which Deputy Ó Broin also referred, shows that the annual rate of rent inflation nationwide is 11.7%. People with expertise in housing have predicted impending increases of 25%. As I said, while we all welcome the measures to increase supply, they will not deliver nearly as quickly as rents will increase and as demand exceeds supply in the meantime. Stuck in the middle of this are real people and real families. Their incomes are limited and that most basic of needs, namely, a roof over their heads, is more than they can afford. The measures in the Bill can subvert this and stop the spiral. Linking rent to the cost of living means that increases must be modest. If housing provision is left to the market, the shortage of supply in our cities and other parts of the country, as described by previous speakers, will allow landlords to charge the highest rents they can get. Those who have no choice but to rent will be in competition with each other, with people on the lowest incomes inevitably losing out and forced into, at worst, homelessness and, at best, accommodation that does not meet their needs.

The Minister said that renting can provide a housing option to those who either cannot or choose not to enter the owner-occupier market. However, the fact is that renting is the only option for a growing number of people because they simply cannot get mortgages and cannot afford to buy houses of their own. Yes, there are those who choose not to enter the owner-occupier market. There are many others now for whom it is not a choice but, rather, the only option. Providing for longer Part 4 tenancies and prohibiting the termination of a tenancy because the property is being sold will give security to tenants. Essentially, the three measures proposed in the Bill alter the balance of power between the landlord and the tenant, putting cards in the tenant's hands that are common in other countries where long-term renting is a viable choice. The Minister talked about the need for balance and the issues faced by landlords and property developers. However, the problem is that there are far too many cards in their hands and far too few in those of tenants. There must be balance but I and others argue that the balance is completely on the other side and that we need to give tenants some powers in this regard. The Government amendment declines to accept the Bill and gives as the main reason that it pre-empts the commitment to publish a strategy for the rental sector by the end of 2016. We all look forward to the publication of that strategy. If I thought the strategy would contain the three measures in the Bill, I might not be too concerned, From what I have heard so far, I am of the view that there will be measures but I do not believe that they will be as effective as the three proposed in the Bill.

I have very little time left so I want to return to the accusation of political gamesmanship. In every debate in which I have participated here in recent times, Fianna Fáil has taken this position. It hides and snuggles in behind the comfort blank of the confidence-and-supply arrangement in order that it does not have to do anything. It just fires accusations at the Opposition and issues veiled threats at times to the Minister. Fianna Fáil Deputies tell the Government that if it does not do such and such, they are the lads who have all the power and can pull the plug at any time. That is supreme political gamesmanship. At least the rest of us take positions. We might disagree with each other on matters but we take positions and stand over them. In this case, I am completely in agreement with the Bill proposed by Deputy Ó Broin. I respect the fact that the Minister has a different approach, although I do not agree with him about the balance between the landlord and the tenant.

The Bill is designed to ensure that the tenant has a stronger card to play. This is very much in line with what happens in other European countries and in places such as Canada, where there is a thriving rental market and where people see that they can have security and live all their lives in rented accommodation. In many cases, these are families. In some cases, they are individuals. In any event, they have that secure rental market. If we continue to do nothing because we have accidental landlords - and we do have them - and if we continue to say that we cannot have a properly organised private rented sector because of accidental landlords, we will get nowhere. We need to take the kinds of measures that give tenants security, that ensure that their rent will not spiral out of control and that redress that balance. I do not believe that this will have the disastrous effect on supply being suggested. There is now hoarding of land so that there will be greater profits to be made at a later stage. There are suggestions that we will not see, for example, apartment blocks being built where they are needed because of the cost of development.

The Minister has often quoted the figure that there are approximately 27,000 homes with planning permission in the greater Dublin area that are not being built. We hear the voice of the developer a lot but we must hear the voice of the tenant as well.

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