Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I support this amendment, particularly given the very generous tax reliefs we discussed earlier which are to be given to those who are making extraordinary amounts of money out of property, rents and, frankly, profiteering off the back of the current housing and homelessness emergency. It has got to shocking levels. A new record was struck in the docklands area, which is in the Minister's constituency as it happens. Rents of €3,300 are proposed for apartments in a new block which has just been completed. That is just wrong. At this point surely the Government recognises that we have to do something in terms of real rent control. I do not refer just to rent caps: we need rents to be set at affordable levels.

This is done in other jurisdictions. People from local authorities or some other Government or State body go in, look at places and at their size, take into account any reasonable factors and say that more than a given figure cannot be charged. We have to have that now, otherwise this will be a disaster on many levels. Even from the point of view of economic competitiveness, which may be more of a focus for the Government than the social and humanitarian side, we are not going to be able to get the people we need into this country to address labour and skills shortages or to keep our own young people from leaving the country if we cannot set affordable levels of rent. In the absence of that, the little bit of relief proposed in this amendment is a good idea, but the Minister really has to look at rent controls or we are in serious trouble. Many people are in serious trouble, as is our wider society and economy.

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