Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will respond briefly to some of the points made in the debate. When I was writing my opening speech, one of my questions was about how widespread breaches of minimum standards in the private rental sector are. I live in that sector and have done for 11 years. I have had three very good landlords. The straight answer, however, is that we just do not know. The reason is that there is an insufficient level of inspections. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, said that one of the reasons the compliance rates as recorded are very high is that the level of inspections is very low. In fact, that is not what the figures tell us. Last year's National Oversight & Audit Commission report shows that one of the local authorities with the highest level of inspections, South Dublin County Council, in whose area Deputy Crowe and I both live, had a 29% inspection rate but 60% non-compliance. There are local authorities that have high inspection rates and low non-compliance but there is simply no correlation between the two. Until we have a far more robust inspection regime we will not know the situation.

I welcome that the Government is not opposing the motion and that the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is committed to examining the issue of penalties. However, the suggestion that there will not be 25% inspection rates until 2021 is far too slow given that it would only cost an extra €2.5 million each year. There must be a way of fast-tracking that by two or three years. If it is only an extra €2.5 million each year, surely that money can be found earlier in the budgetary cycle to ensure those inspections take place, particularly inspections of older properties or properties that are not covered by the HAP or RAS.

One element in the Minister's remarks that was very disappointing, and the Minister of State, Deputy English, also raised this, was the self-certification. On the one hand, it is being stated that a NCT-style certification system cannot be set up quickly enough and will not yield the results we think it will, yet, on the other, it is stated that we can set up self-certification and it will yield results. I do not believe those two things make much sense. Nobody is saying this NCT can be set up overnight, but it is not the same as setting up the car NCT. We already have the minimum standards and the expertise in the local authorities. It is about making it a legal requirement and phasing it in. I believe it could be done very quickly and in a reasonable way.

I stress to the Minister of State that expecting tenants or third parties to make those complaints ignores the type of situation Deputy Crowe mentioned. How can somebody who is fearful of losing their tenancy and being unable to get another tenancy because of the high asking price for rents be expected to make a complaint? That applies not just to vulnerable people but also to working families who have a rent of perhaps €1,100 or €1,200 while the asking rent in the local area is €1,800. They are genuinely nervous of getting into difficulties with their landlords.

I acknowledge that Fianna Fáil has been calling for the NCT-style certification system for some time. The fact that we are all now on the same page and that, with a little pulling and dragging, we might be able to get the Government on that page too is very positive.

In response to Deputies Mick Barry and Boyd Barrett, I agree with the proposition that undocumented migrants should have the right to make complaints without fear of potential legal consequences. That is eminently sensible. We considered including in the motion the need for full regulation for social rental tenants in the local authority housing sector, but we wanted to keep the focus clearly on the private rental sector. However, there is an anomaly whereby HAP and RAS tenants and approved housing body tenants are now governed by aspects of the RTB regime while local authority tenants are not. That is clearly an area that requires attention.

I also fully agree with Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. It struck me watching the RTÉ documentary that we have a black market rental economy alongside the standard rental economy. That is clear, but it is not invisible. The fact that Deputy Jan O'Sullivan was able to produce advertisements for accommodation in that part of the sector, and after the RTÉ investigation was broadcast, shows that it can be tracked down and rooted out. That must be part of the system.

To conclude, I appeal to Fianna Fáil and Solidarity-People Before Profit not to press their amendments, and that is not because the items in those amendments are not worthy. I have mentioned some of them. If the House concludes this debate by unanimously focusing on three crucial issues - the urgent need for more inspections and more resourcing of local authorities to do that, an NCT-style certification system and tougher penalties for those who wilfully break the law - we will send out a positive signal. We can deal with some of the other issues as we proceed but if we get to divisions on amendments it weakens the message. Threshold, whose representatives have been in the Visitors Gallery throughout the debate, have appealed to us to send a clear, united signal that what we saw on our television screens last week is unacceptable and that we are united on a course of action to try to eradicate it once and for all.

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