Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

4 o’clock

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the amendment. The people in Apollo House are to be commended. I saw only last night a man lying on cardboard boxes on the footpath across the road from here, a sleeping bag pulled over him. It is an appalling situation.

Much of the discussion has centred on Dublin and other high pressure zones. I understand that the problem is extremely acute in Dublin, but when one goes outside the city and the Pale and into the commuter belt, which includes Laois and places such as Kildare, one sees rents skyrocketing there also. According to CSO figures, rents in Laois have increased by 13.6% in a 12 month period and in County Kildare by 13.4%. Cases have come to me in which people's rents have increased by 40%. This is a huge problem. One matter not being address here - riddle me this - is the rent allowance thresholds. Considering the thresholds for Laois or Kildare for the different sizes of household, what people pay in rent is way over the thresholds. I say to the Minister what I said to Deputy Joan Burton here three years ago. The secretary in his office is telling lies, my secretary is telling lies and I am telling lies every day because we are putting incorrect information on housing application forms. We are pretending that people's rents are €600 per month when they are €850 or €900 per month. We are telling lies to work the system. The true measure that the system is failing is not only the homeless people on the street, but also the fact that we are all telling lies and pretending the system is working when it is not. I therefore question even the data that are available. Out of any ten people applying for rent supplement who have come through my office, nine were telling lies, whether it be in Monasterevin in south Kildare, Mountmellick, Port Laoise or anywhere else. These are the facts of the matter. This is putting huge pressure on people. Many cases have come to me in which people's rent supplement is €300 and their rent is €800 so they are paying the €500 difference. These are people on €217 per week who have children and who are trying to run a household. They should be given a medal. I do not know how they do it and stay sane. This needs to be addressed.

Regarding homelessness, unless we cap rents across the State, all we are doing is scratching the surface with the Bill. We are not dealing with the situation. There is a problem with this in every county. We must have rent caps that are linked to the level of inflation and do not rise above it.

We have heard talk of supply. I have watched buy-to-lets go up for sale around where I live. They are being sold without a problem. They are being snapped up by people buying up property who then let them. There is no problem getting investors into the market. I do not go along with that idea. It is a load of rubbish. We must cut off the source of the problem. If a pipe is leaking in a house, one can run around all day mopping it up but if the leaking pipe is not fixed, the problem is not solved. This is the key fact. I say this to the Minister very directly because I want to be constructive in this.

There are 200,000 empty homes and 47,000 or 48,000 holiday homes in Ireland, according to the census. This means that there are 250,000 empty homes in the State, if I read the census correctly. I returned to it to read it a second time and, as far as I can see, I am reading it correctly. This is a problem. A suggestion has come from the Government benches in this regard. We are also making suggestions as to how to deal with this issue and try to get some of these houses into the market.

Regarding rent caps, we are dancing on the head of a pin. All the agonising is due to our desire to stop rents rising, which has happened to a massive degree. Figures have been quoted here in this regard in the past few days. The rents people are being charged are astronomical. The Government states it will put a cap on them and only allow them to increase by 12% in a few areas. The landlords' lobby, which does not represent all landlords, is bombarding all Deputies to try to put pressure on us not to introduce rent caps. Do not mind the landlords. Let us have a bit of humanity here for a change. What we need to do is what is done in other northern European countries, that is, introduce rent caps linked to the level of inflation and stand up for what is right. We should forget about the people who have the money and all the power and influence. Let us deal with the citizens who face the new year on the street. It is very important that we do this.

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