Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tá an Comhaontas Glas sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo. Last Thursday's "RTÉ Investigates: Nightmare to Let" presented a stark and appalling reality of renting in Ireland in 2017. It was a shocking surprise to many but, to many others, it was not a surprise at all. To anyone who has been searching for a place to rent, renters who spend days, weeks, months and years searching for accommodation that is substandard and overpriced, this was only another cruel reminder of what is sometimes on offer.

This is not only a question of quality of life. The conditions that we saw in the programme on Thursday clearly constituted serious threats to public health and the health and well-being of those living there. This is not an issue that has sprung up overnight. Five months ago, I tabled a motion in Dáil Éireann calling for a review and evaluation of our local authority building control sections, which are under-resourced and stretched too thin to have any substantive safety impact. Regrettably, there has been no change or movement from the Government since then.

One in five people resides in private rental accommodation, yet we only have 65 employees in the building control sections of local authorities across the country. Local authorities have an inspection rate of 4% of all private rental properties listed on the RTB website for last year. That rate is mere tokenism and is not reassuring. It does not instil confidence. In fact, it can have the opposite effect and give a signal to rogue landlords that they and their death trap properties will not be detected and they will not be apprehended. Also, 69% of the relatively tiny 4% that were inspected failed the inspections. This would indicate that we may be dealing with the tip of the iceberg. I say "may" because of the worrying outcome from the dearth of information gleaned to date. One would think that the 69% figure, with the recent RTÉ exposé, would trigger the Government into action and reassure the tens of thousands of renters. Alas, no.

If landlords are not detected or among the 4% investigated, they will continue to have nothing to fear because the local authorities are simply not armed with anything like the necessary resources. The Government must institute an NCT-like system for certification for private rental accommodation. The overarching priority underpinning the provision of rented accommodation must be the safety of the residents. It is essential that we move from a reactive system based on dealing with complaints to a proactive system that polices.

If landlords are not properly aware of the prospect of having their properties inspected and the prospect of heavy penalties for breaches, they will continue to rent overcrowded, substandard accommodation because they know they can get away with it.

The Government must seek to introduce robust regulation to specifically tackle overcrowding. Threshold has stated this can be done by a ministerial regulation but the question to the Minister of State is: what evidence is there that this is being done as a matter of priority? The Government must also seek to tackle split incentive issues whereby investment in a property such as retrofitting is discouraged because the occupier and not the owner pays the energy bill. Therefore, there is no real incentive for owners to invest in their properties. This also provides a further disincentive for landlords to ensure that properties are warm, energy-efficient, of good quality and well maintained.

The Government might only have become aware of the situation since last Thursday but this is and has been the reality of daily life for many renters across Dublin and the country. The need for strict regulation and well-resourced regulators is an urgent matter of public safety in order to ensure the horrific conditions all Members saw last Thursday are not allowed to continue. Inept token regulation should not ever be tolerated. We must place the health and safety of the tens of thousands of people who rent to the front and centre in proper regulation.

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