Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Coveney, spoke about all the things the Government has done and what is going to happen to increase the supply of houses. We have yet to see that happening. We heard the same thing from the previous Minister, Deputy Kelly. The same figures are being thrown out time and again. The rental sector has not been addressed. My constituency office deals with one or two families a week that have received termination orders from their landlords on the basis that they are selling the properties in question or that members of their families are going to move in. These landlords have copped on that this is the best way for them to get rid of people.

The Secure Rents campaign, which has been mentioned already, has three demands. First, it wants rent increases to be linked to the consumer price index. That is very clear. Even though there is a rent cap in place at the moment, rents are continuing to soar. It currently costs €1,800 to rent a three-bedroom house in Dublin 8. It is not possible for people on low wages to meet that cost because they do not have the money. Second, the campaign is calling for the revocation of the right of landlords to evict tenants for the purpose of sale. This is crucial because the Part 4 provisions currently give landlords the right to terminate the residency of tenants who have been in renting for more than six months but less than four years. A longer period of time has to be secured. Third, there has to be a move from the current four-year leases. This is absolutely crucial. If the Minister does not recognise that these are safe actions at this time, and someone rightly described them as the minimum that should be done, he is just not seeing what is happening on the ground, perhaps because he is politically ingrained in the system.

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