Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support this important Bill, which seeks to provide for greater security of tenure and rent certainty for tenants. It has been confirmed that a majority of those who are becoming homeless are from the private rented sector. Many of my constituents in places like Bantry, Baltimore, Skibbereen, Kealkil, Clonakilty, Rosscarbery, Bandon and Kinsale, to name just a few, are unable to get on the property ladder and have to resort to paying huge rents. The increase in rents is driving people out of rented accommodation. Renting is often more expensive than making a monthly mortgage repayment. In the week from 19 March to 25 March last, 9,681 people - adults and children - across Ireland were homeless. The number of families becoming homeless has increased by 37% since March of last year. More than one in three of those in emergency accommodation is a child. Urgent action is needed to address this serious problem.

The Government has said on many occasions that it plans to build more houses. When it introduced the Rebuilding Ireland scheme last year, it promised to deliver 47,000 social housing units by the end of 2021 in a bid to tackle homelessness. My concern is that this promise falls far short of the number of houses that are required if Ireland is to eliminate its housing crisis. There are 90,000 households on the social housing waiting lists. It has been promised that 47,000 social housing units will be delivered by 2021. We are just three years away from that deadline. Can we have certainty that the Government will deliver on this promise? While we are waiting in the hope that the promised houses will be supplied, we must intervene to ensure people do not lose their homes, for example, by addressing the issues of security of tenure and rent certainty. If better controls were put in place for things like security deposits, rent increases and termination procedures, they would go a long way towards giving tenants the protections they need. Landlords would also benefit from the more protected environment that would exist if clear rules were in place.

The Government needs to consider how to encourage more property owners to become landlords in order to reduce the extent of the housing crisis. I have advocated on many occasions in this Chamber for vacant spaces above commercial units to be refurbished, thereby providing much-needed residential dwellings across west Cork and elsewhere. If one drives through villages and towns like Ballinadee, Ballineen, Enniskeane, Dunmanway, Goleen, Kealkil, Leap, Schull and Skibbereen, one will see how many units above shops are vacant. I have encouraged the Government to consider offering refurbishment grants for these vacant properties in a bid to ease the housing and homelessness crisis and to protect and restore rural Ireland. It is time for the Government to listen and to take real action.

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