Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This country is still in the middle of a housing emergency. Rents and house prices are increasing and we are still talking about issues the Government told us would have been dealt with by now or were in the process of being dealt with. Last June, we discussed this issue when we brought forward our rent certainty Bill. Since then, the Government has done little but spout rhetoric. What was a housing emergency in June has now, on the edge of December, gone well beyond an emergency especially as the temperatures drop. As we all know, the price of renting has increased so much that it is now cheaper in some cases to have a mortgage. In my constituency, Dublin North West, it costs approximately €1,300 a month to rent a two-bedroom house and €1,500 for a three-bedroom house.

Given that there are 750,000 people in the private rental sector across the State, a quarter of all households in Dublin rent. There are many low and middle income families relying on the private rental sector to put a roof over their heads. These families live with insecurity of tenure and spiralling rents. Couples and families who are working in good jobs come to my office because they cannot afford to keep up with rent increases. They are paying up to 60% of their disposable incomes on rent and are now in danger of becoming homeless. These families need immediate action, not rhetoric from Government.

This Bill will do three things for tenants: provide for rent certainty with rent increases and decreases linked to the consumer price index; amend section 28 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2015 by changing the duration of Part 4 tenancies from four years to an indefinite period - this would give tenants and landlords the option of securing long-term leases, providing greater certainty for both parties; and, finally, it will remove the sale of property as grounds for a landlord to terminate a lease. These are three simple but important changes to help working families who are finding it increasingly hard to keep a roof over their heads. Any State that professes to call itself a democracy should be able to supply basic housing. However, the current housing emergency does not seem to bother many in this House. There are many in this House who are landlords. They should declare their interest and desist from voting on this Bill because it is an obvious conflict of interests.

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