John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is standing over local authorities which do not deliver houses in their areas. They are bound by their planning rules and poor housing strategies. That is why people are stuck on the housing lists. There is no doubt the rent they will pay will increase significantly in properties which are, in my opinion in some cases, substandard. Then, one will have landlords who will be asked to bring properties up to a standard, in my opinion sometimes beyond the norm, who will be frightened away not by rent controls but by the local authorities attempting to be over-bureaucratic in that market.

While we may not be speaking to a specific amendment, it is all about that amendment which the Minister has brought forward with the formula to create rent control. The Minister is looking to the market for this. My argument, however, is that there are so many other options he could take, alongside this that would have an earlier effect of restoring some sort of stability in the rental market. He is not utilising local authorities or the banks in that regard. I am flagging for the Minister the fact that if he can bring some of the houses coming on-stream from the banks, in the context of repossessions, then he will keep people in their own homes. They will not have to be affected by a formula for rent or by landlords over-anxious to increase the rent. He is actually facing into a problem in 2017 that this formula will not control. The only way to control it is to have the structures in place to take in charge these houses and to provide the moneys and possibilities for people to live in a local authority house at that level.

In the main, we are talking about people who are renting, using the formula, watching the rent going up but they cannot qualify for local authority housing and still cannot qualify for a home loan. They are stuck in the rental market and in this dilemma. I would like to see something done about that block of people who are waiting to be housed and who are making a genuine effort.

It is similar to the mortgage-to-rent scheme. These are schemes which are in place and have not impacted on the market. There is too much bureaucracy in that scheme. Again, it relates to rent and these amendments. If that scheme was working, there would be far more people in it than there are currently. Bank of Ireland told us it had only 39 in that scheme. It was not able to tell whether they were approved. There are many more out there paying rent, having difficulty and not able to get into some of the schemes the Minister has created.

It is necessary to affect the course of this Bill to get the best possible results for those on the housing lists. I respect the fact the Minister wants us to speak to the amendment. However, everything he says about housing is affected by the amendment or can affect the outcome in terms of the availability of local authority houses.

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