Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Green Party is happy to support the Bill and I commend the authors, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin and others in Sinn Féin. We do so because we are in a real rental crisis. The figures have been cited but they bear recall.

Rents have increased approximately 45% in the past five years, we face the prospect of a further 20% rise and the percentage of income going on rent for the 300,000 private rental tenants in the country is way above any international average and is really harming the quality of their lives. It is even worse for those 5,000 families who, because of rent increases, have been forced into emergency hotel and hostel accommodation. We have to address this crisis.

The methods of addressing it to date have gone back to the old ways of trying to pump prime supply by giving tax incentives and other breaks to the developers and building industry. That needs to change. We got into a housing and economic crisis because we relied too much on the developers and gave them too much leeway. We have to change it so that we do not go back to the very conditions that created our housing crisis. That requires a fundamental reassessment of the relative rights of property owners versus renters. As Thomas Drummond famously said, we must recognise that property had its duties as well as its rights. We have to turn to Article 43 of our Constitution which, while it recognises property rights contains the caveat that: "The State, accordingly, may as occasion requires delimit by law the exercise of the said rights with a view to reconciling their exercise with the exigencies of the common good." It is for the common good that we sign this legislation. We cannot wait two or three years for the supply to increase even if we did want to go back to that old way. It is not in tune with where the market is going. By giving security of tenure and rent increases, we will create an environment that is better for developers and builders. I attended the recent Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland conference and heard there that they want to go to this build-to-rent model in which people can expect to live in a development for 20 or 30 years and maybe even move within that development as their family grows or shrinks. That model requires certainty of tenure and rent. It is perfectly plausible for us to introduce these measures to increase the rights of the tenants and, to counter the Minister, it would not kill the development of building opportunities. If anything, we need to create this rental certainty and security of tenure to raise the funds to get people to invest in the buildings we need. That is not happening.

This Bill provides a mechanism to change the whole approach and that is what is badly needed. I do not care about the politics of who is in here, who is up or down, or who has a motion ahead of the other. It is a question of addressing a fundamental crisis, particularly in our cities, and particularly this city. We cannot do nothing about it. We need to act fast and we are very glad to support the Bill with that intent. We hope it does pass and that the rental sector changes.

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