Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and commend Deputies Ó Broin and Funchion on bringing it forward. I thank the students, particularly those in DCU and in Galway, who first brought this to public attention. There is no doubt that the objective of this Bill to include student tenancies under the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 giving them access to rent pressure zones and to the Residential Tenancies Board would be helpful to students and their families. I hope that objectives and policies indicated in this Bill and in the Fianna Fáil Bill could be accommodated by the Government in its Bill, which it has said it will bring forward in June of this year. There is no doubt that the issues raised would be helpful overall.

What is really needed is rent control and rent decreases because rent has reached rip-off levels. Rent generally speaking is approximately 25% higher than it was at peak boom levels. The Minister of State put her finger on this when she mentioned constitutional issues. I have said on more than one occasion, and make no apology for saying it again tonight, this Oireachtas should declare a housing emergency because there is a huge housing emergency in student, local authority or private rented accommodation. Were the Government to declare a housing emergency, that would allow it to deal with the huge crisis. There are almost 10,000 people homeless, 3,500 of whom are children, there are 100,000 families on local authority waiting lists and between 25,000 and 30,000 are in housing assistance payment, HAP, accommodation, which is desperate for families.

They do not have two ha'pennies left at the end of the week to rub together. What is required is the declaration of a housing emergency to allow us to introduce legislation to control and decrease rents and to take other necessary measures to deal with this issue.

Rent increases of 27% at Dublin City University, DCU, and 18% at the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG, are huge and now students find they have to pay €1,000 a month for accommodation. That is €9,000 a year, three times the level of the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, non-adjacent grant rate. They have to feed and clothe themselves and live after that. This creates huge difficulties for parents and families, particularly low-income families. It is a barrier to further education for very many students and families in this country.

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