Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Sinn Féin Deputies for providing the opportunity this evening to discuss the appalling revelations regarding breaches of standards in the private rental sector, which were aired in last week's "RTÉ Investigates" documentary. What we witnessed was horrendous and degrading. No one should have to live like that and no one should be allowed to live like that. The properties shown have been closed down and the landlord is being pursued, as is only right and proper. It would seem that this was not an accidental breach of standards; rather it would appear to be the wilful and deliberate exploitation of a powerless group of people in our community. That is not the Ireland we stand for – not for the people in this Republic or those we invite to come to live and work and contribute here. That such appalling conditions can exist, almost undetected and uninterrupted it seems, shows how much we need to implement the rental reform agenda that we have already put in place, with more still to come.

This RTÉ documentary has put a public focus on standards that persist in some of our private rental accommodation. That is a good thing because people should be made very aware of some of the living conditions that people in this country still have to put up with. However, this is not a new focus for the Government as we have been working towards new solutions and protections for quite some time. Our rental reform agenda is under way and I am determined to see it through, together with the new proposals that I announced in September.

To step out of the current context of this debate for just a moment, it is important to note also that the images shown in the documentary do not represent the vast majority of people's experience of the private rental sector. The vast majority of small independent landlords are good landlords. They look after their accommodation and they look after their tenants. But in every walk of life it seems, there are those who will break the law and who will give a bad name to a good enterprise.

Returning to the context of this debate, people can be assured that the Government is absolutely committed to tackling this problem and to addressing comprehensively substandard accommodation in the rental sector. While not subscribing to every single word of the Sinn Féin motion, the Government will not be opposing it. In the time available, I wish to take the opportunity to outline some of the actions that have been taken to date and that are planned to improve the quality and management of rental accommodation, so that citizens can live secure and safe lives wherever they call home. Essentially those actions involve: The introduction of new standards, which has already happened; a commitment of funding for increased inspections, already given and now ring-fenced for 2018 and; a new system of compliance that will be progressed as part of the change management plan for the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, which I announced in September of this year.

The Government's strategy for the rental sector, published in December 2016, set out a wide range of measures to be introduced under the headings of supply, security, standards and services - many of which have already been progressed. The most important of those for the quality of private rental accommodation are the standards and services. Those encompass greatly enhanced inspection and enforcement standards. They include the updated Standards for Rented Houses Regulations 2017, which came into effect in July, and are clearly focused on tenant safety. They introduce significant new measures covering heating appliances, carbon monoxide and window safety. Local authorities have been given a comprehensive guidance document by my Department to assist them in the implementation of the regulations. However, we also need the resources to enable increased inspections. While a total of €7.5 million has been provided to local authorities for inspection purposes over the four years to the end of 2017, we recognise the need for additional resources to ensure greater compliance with standards. Therefore, we have made greatly increased provision for inspections, with €2.5 million in funding to be provided in 2018. I intend to provide further annual increases in the period up to 2021, when it is envisaged that €10 million will be provided. That will enable us to increase our inspection rate to 25% of rental properties annually which means that a rental property will be inspected every four years but, more important, the properties that really need urgent or regular inspection will be prioritised, namely, those particularly at-risk properties that include very old buildings and instances where there has been a complaint.

It is not enough to simply raise standards and increase inspections, especially when we know there are unscrupulous people out there determined to subvert the law and put people's lives in danger. We need to be sure there is a robust enforcement and sanctions regime, and that will be at the core of the change management programme for the RTB that I announced almost two months ago. In the current situation, there is little disincentive for unscrupulous landlords who let poor quality, unsafe or overcrowded dwellings and take advantage of the most vulnerable renters in the sector. Such landlords may be tempted to try to operate undetected for as long as possible and, if discovered, simply discontinue the use of the accommodation and move on to somewhere else. What that means is a landlord can currently provide substandard accommodation without the prospect of being subject to any immediate penalty as an offence is only committed and a penalty imposed when an improvement notice or a prohibition notice is served and is not adhered to. That has to change, and it will change as part of the Government's continued reform of the sector.

While the sentiment behind the call this evening that the Government would support an NCT-type certification system for private rented housing is understandable, the reality is that establishing and rolling out such a system would take a significant amount of time and would not be an effective means of dealing with the immediate problem we face. Under the changes coming to the RTB to make it a strong regulator of the sector and to allow it to effectively represent the concerns of tenants as well as landlords, landlords will be required to register their tenancies on an annual basis. A more effective way of addressing the issue of certification and sanction is to require landlords, when registering a tenancy with the RTB, to certify that the property in question is compliant with regulations in relation to standards for rental accommodation, overcrowding and fire safety. That will mean a legally enforceable requirement on landlords to certify the quality and safety of their rental properties. Failure to provide certification, failure to register the tenancy or, very important, the provision of an untrue certification, will all constitute offences, prosecutable by the RTB. That will protect the good landlords as well as expose the bad. That is how we can quickly come to greater protection for tenants from unscrupulous landlords by introducing a more meaningful sanctions regime.

The RTB will play a key role in terms of standards and enforcement in the rental sector, and will be given the powers and the resources required to take on this enhanced regulatory responsibility. That will require legislative change and that is a priority for the Government. I have previously stated that reforming and strengthening the RTB is a substantial programme of work that must be undertaken over a number of years. However, priority is being given to exploring, as a matter of urgency, the changes needed in legislation and in the board's financing arrangements in order to make early progress in the process that will progressively see the RTB become the sector's regulator over the next two years. The work began in September 2017.

Particular attention will be given to possible amendments to the provisions in relation to overcrowding, both in terms of its legal definition and the enforcement actions and sanctions applicable to such situations. I take the view that enabling or causing deliberate and unsafe overcrowding is a very serious offence and I will treat it as such in the legislation to come.

The proportion of inspected properties found not to meet rental accommodation standards, cited by RTÉ as 69% nationally, is high. However, that should not be extrapolated to imply that non-compliance is at this level across the sector. Local authority inspections currently target properties that are identified as being at risk of not complying, namely, older properties and those with a history of quality problems. Many inspections are conducted as a result of a complaint received. For that reason the rate of non-compliance among inspected properties will inevitably, and properly, be higher than the rate across all rental properties.

I accept there are issues of inconsistency and significant differences in inspection and enforcement capacity across local authorities. That is also being addressed under the rental strategy. Work is under way to build a more efficient, standardised and transparent inspection and enforcement approach across all local authority areas. My Department, the Residential Tenancies Board, and local authorities are working together to develop a national system of shared support services covering ICT, legal services, training and capacity development and resource and performance management. That will mean all local authorities will have access to the most up to date and effective tools and systems to increase their level of inspection and expedite enforcement processes so that rates of compliance increase and opportunities to operate under the radar are eliminated.

In addition, we will increase stakeholder engagement and awareness-raising to educate landlords as to their statutory responsibilities and obligations, as well as making tenants fully aware of their rights. The RTB will offer a voluntary landlord accreditation scheme by which landlords and their agents will gain knowledge on best practice and a more thorough understanding of both the rights and obligations of landlords, including in relation to safety and the quality of their properties. After the Grenfell Tower tragedy, under the fire task force that was set up the RTB prepared an information leaflet on the fire safety measures which landlords are required to ensure are in place and that was delivered directly to all registered landlords.

We face significant challenges in the rental sector at this time. Substandard and dangerous accommodation is not something we can tolerate, no matter how bad the current shortage of housing. However, things are improving on the build side. Implementation of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland action plan is working to address the issue of supply of new housing for ownership and the rental sector, while the strategy for the rental sector is driving changes to improve standards and increase the coverage and efficiency of the inspections system to underpin improved compliance. Moreover, the new changes for the sector I announced in September will allow us to properly deter the wilful breach of accommodation standards, as well as sanction it where it occurs.

The bulk of the measures included in the motion are already covered by the Government's work to date in terms of actions completed, work under way or measures planned in our already-announced programme of work. We will remain resolutely focused on delivering on this programme in the months and years ahead. On this basis, the Government will not oppose the motion.

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