Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

People do not know their rights as we know from dealing with them. Somebody coming to rent a property can be shown a rent but has no proof that it is within the limits. People are so desperate they will not upset the apple cart. We have suggested putting the onus on the landlord rather than the tenant. The landlord should have to produce a certificate from the RTB saying the rent is in order. I do not know why the Minister would not agree that because every day in Dublin West I deal with people who do not know their rights, do not know that the landlord must produce a statutory declaration for the sale of a property or a relative moving in. The Minister needs to put power into people’s hands by putting more pressure on the landlords.

The Minister will reward people who keep property vacant for two years by not putting them under these rent limits. The Minister constantly says, and the Minister for Justice and Equality said it earlier today, that if we go too far in limiting rent increases all of these landlords will exit the sector. That is hogwash. Why would they exit the sector when there are such profits to be made? Countless investment firms have said how great the Irish rental sector is and pity the people of Ireland labouring under it. Where would these people go? If they decide not to let their properties they are not making any money on them. Why does the Minister not consider a vacant house tax on people who in a housing emergency do not put their houses up for occupancy? Had the Minister thought of that? Why not tax them, unless there is a very good reason not to let the property instead of rewarding them by taking them off the market? The Minister could do that to accompany these very meagre rent measures.

In amendment No. 55 we argue for deleting the section saying the limits on rent increases are not retrospective for tenants who have already been notified of a rent increase. It is to cut across the idea of landlords exploiting the loophole and gap, the time lag in enacting the legislation.

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