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

Behold the real schism in Irish politics, notwithstanding all the play acting. On the side of the landlords, developers and vulture funds, there are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and on the other side there are people supporting this Bill, brought forward by Sinn Féin, as it would admit, as a minimum set of steps to do something about a rental emergency that is spiralling out of control. This is the major contributory factor to an unprecedented homelessness and housing crisis. The Government will not even support these minimal measures which will not even address the issue but would begin to offer some sort of certainty and level of control. It is unbelievable.

From the Government and Fianna Fáil amendments we have this nonsense that we must not do anything that will affect the market. The best example, which I love, is that we need a "market-sensitive model". No, we do not. We do not need to be sensitive about developers and landlords making an absolute fortune from extortionate rents and, we should be clear, who have a vested interest in keeping rents high. Why would they want them lower? Deputies might argue that if we get supply, it might bring down the rent but it will not. At the point at which supply will begin to have a downward effect on rent, they will stop the supply. It is just like we know developers hoarded land in the past. The market and the developers will not deliver affordable rents.

It is clear the Minister of State's Government does not want to deliver a position where anybody would have to pay no more than 20% or 30% of income on rent. We have not yet heard it mentioned. Currently, people are paying 60% or 70% of their income on rent in Dún Laoghaire. If the Government is not determined to achieve that position, it will not solve the crisis. It does not want to solve the crisis and the landlords who vote for the Government, even those populating some of these benches, do not have any interest in reducing the profitability of the private rented sector. If the Government were serious, it would have a social housing programme that would take all of those on the housing list into properties with council rents that are controlled and differential, based on people's ability to pay. In the private sector it would introduce rent controls and rent certainty. It is clear that whatever the Minister, Deputy Coveney, comes up with in a few weeks, it will not be rent control. That is clear, as the language is repeated that we must not upset the market or developers because we must get down on our knees to grovel to them. The idea is we must ensure they can make much money as that is the only way we can solve the problem. No, it is not. Those people made a lot of money in the last boom but it did not solve any of these problems or decrease rents. It did not reduce housing lists or make housing or accommodation more affordable. It will not do so this time either.

The Government should just own up. It and Fianna Fáil represents the landlords so they should just admit it rather than offer the pretence they will do something when they refuse to accept the minimal proposals in this Bill to make some difference. Well done to the Secure Rents campaign for raising the matter but we will have to hit the streets to solve this problem as well.

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