Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We are debating how to combat slum landlordism. I will start with a very simple, practical proposal, namely, that undocumented migrants should be permitted to make complaints about their accommodation standards without any fear of deportation or other legal consequences. That is a guarantee that should be given to undocumented migrants by the Minister and I am asking him to give a direct commitment tonight in that regard. Such guarantees are in place, for example, for undocumented migrants in the fishing industry because of the levels of exploitation that have been reported there and the same should apply with regard to accommodation.

The "Prime Time Investigates" programme gave a glimpse of what is happening here. Why did the councils not do that? It is because they are massively underresourced. There are 64 inspectors in the entire State trying to follow up on this issue and less than half of them are actively involved in going door to door at the moment. That is a scandalous position which must change. I support the proposal for an NCT-type of system but it should not be outsourced to private operators. It should be in the hands of the councils rather than the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, because there is more democratic accountability to elected members in the local authorities.

The current position is that each year one property out of every 25 is inspected. The Fianna Fáil proposal, as I understand it, is for one property out of every five to be inspected on an annual basis, while the Government's proposal is for one property in every four to be inspected on an annual basis by 2021. How many fires might we have between now and 2021? Our amendment proposes that there would be an inspection of each property at the very least every two to three years. That would require the immediate hiring of between 500 and 750 inspectors and for those people to be in action next year.

On RTB registration, 495 landlords got a second warning letter last year. In reality, they received five pieces of correspondence. They got a general letter, two follow-up letters, a first warning letter and then a second. A total of 495 landlords got to the second warning stage but there were only 12 convictions. Those 12 landlords were fined €94,260 which is an average of €7,855 each. That is not a sufficient deterrent by a long shot. That is only a couple of month's rent at the rate that these guys charge. There must be a punishment to fit the crime. What is the crime? It is not just the risks to children in terms of child protection or to people's mental health in terms of living in overcrowded conditions; these landlords are put people's lives at risk in terms of fire safety standards. The question of prison and the seizure of assets must be on the agenda and be part of any new legislation. The legislation needs to be toughened up in this regard.

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