Dáil debates

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

2:10 pm

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

On 5 December 2017 the Taoiseach told the House that rent pressure zones were working and that 60% of renters had had the assurance that their rent could not rise by more than 4% per year. He also made the astonishing claim that rent pressure zones had never been designed to cover new tenancies and that they did not apply to them. The latest daft.ierent report was published this morning. It confirms that in the 12 months since the rent pressure zones were introduced, rents have increased by 10%. This is the seventh report which indicates increases in rent which has been published since the pressure zones were introduced. All four daft.iereports show rent increases above the 4% cap, but, crucially, the three ESRI Residential Tenancies Board reports which include existing tenancies show rent increases above the 4% cap in each of the three quarters. Therefore, on average it now costs in excess of €20,000 per year to rent in Dublin, while on average it costs at least €10,000 per year to rent outside Dublin. Rents have increased by 65% since 2011 and are now 19% higher than at the peak of the boom in the Celtic tiger period. How are ordinary people meant to afford this level of rent? They include young working people, young couples, students or later in life couples. Does the Taoiseach really believe they can afford such excessive rents? Have their incomes increased by 65% since 2011? Perhaps he might think they should ask their parents for the extra rent.

The rent pressure zones are not working. That is what the figures in all seven reports tell the Taoiseach. They have created a two-tier rental market. Long-term secure tenants have some protection, but those in vulnerable or new tenancies have no protection. The daft.iereport confirms that breaches of the 4% cap are widespread in the case of new tenancies. There is also a growing number of landlords who are charging existing tenants illegal under-the-counter payments above the 4% cap. Landlords outside the rent pressure zones in Waterford, Limerick and parts of Cork are actively encouraged to jack up rents to unsustainable levels within the rent pressure zones. Worst of all, the Taoiseach expects vulnerable tenants to police the system.

What has the Taoiseach got against renters? Is he blind to the plight of tenants because so many members of his parliamentary party are landlords? Is it because the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has been captured by large-scale institutional investors or vulture funds or is it because the Taoiseach is so out of touch that he just does not understand how working people are able to keep a roof over their heads?

My questions are very simple. Will the Government now accept on the basis of evidence that rent pressure zones are failing? Will it move to introduce real rent certainty, linking rents to an index, such as the consumer price index, to give struggling renters a break?

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