Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will recently have seen investigative journalism that produced a raw, unvarnished and factual account of the horrifying reality for thousands of tenants right across the State. I refer to thousands of tenants who are living in what can only be described as slum accommodation and grossly substandard accommodation. Many of us on the ground are more than familiar with these stories because we are speaking to and dealing with people in our clinics week in, week out. These are people who are forced to live in poor and totally unacceptable private rental accommodation. The only people who do not seem to be able to grasp that this is a reality for so many people are the Minister and the other members of the Government. One could not possibly be unaware of it. The only explanation is that the Minister does not have the will to deal with it in any meaningful way. He is not prepared to tackle it in any meaningful way.

Let us talk about the housing assistance payment, HAP. It is a means of forcing people on the housing list into private rental accommodation. Why? It is because the Government is not building social housing. When people are pushed into private rental accommodation, their names are removed from the housing waiting list. This is done to make the housing list look shorter. By doing so, the Government is subsidising landlords, including greedy slum landlords, with taxpayers' money. It is creating even more problems and solving nothing. Let us look at this. Under the Government's watch, not only are there people sleeping in doorways and along riverbanks but there are also people living in seriously substandard accommodation for which they are forced to pay through the teeth. They have no choice, however. The reason my party introduced this motion tonight was to try to push the Government to take action and ensure there is protection for tenants in private rental accommodation. It is to try to push the Government to provide funding and resources in order that inspections can be carried out and in order that one can ensure there is compliance and a minimum standard of regulation in the private rental sector. There is no protection at present.

What will it take? Up until now, the Government has not done anything. As I stated, it could not possibly have been unaware of the problem. It is about time, therefore, that it woke up to the reality faced by people living in private rental accommodation, not just in the winter months but all year round. There is nothing in this motion that anyone with a semblance of a social conscience would not support and commit to. It is action that we need and, in all fairness, no more of the Minister's defensive bullshit. We need action and support for this motion.

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