John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Brassil and Deputy Eugene Murphy when he returns to our benches.

As my colleague indicated last night, Fianna Fáil will support the Bill and will put forward amendments on Committee Stage. It is important that we put the Bill in its context of dealing with the private rented sector where there are currently great demands. For several years, there have been significant rental increases. This comes back to the basic issue of supply and demand. There is simply too much demand. It is important to acknowledge that the pressures have occurred on the demand side in the private rental sector rather than on the supply side.

There are people living in private rented accommodation who do not want to be there. They are obliged to do so because there is no alternative. There are individuals who are eligible for social housing and who are in private rented accommodation temporarily while they wait for their social housing to be provided. There are others who do not qualify for social housing, who are earning significant money, who are in private rented accommodation and who have no capacity to save the deposits required to allow them to purchase their own homes. I accept that I am digressing slightly but, in the longer term, two of the elements necessary to alleviate pressure in the private rental sector are continuing growth and the supply of social and affordable housing. While we might disagree on aspects of this, we do not have a rational programme in respect of providing affordable housing. In my area, there are a couple of strategic development zone, SDZ, planning schemes under construction but we do not have an affordable housing programme for people who earn salaries in excess of the social housing eligibility thresholds and who are excluded from the market. Many of those individuals are in private rented accommodation. The latter is an aspect with which we must deal.

Another issue to which repeated reference has been made is the lack of a cost rental model.

We have discussed it for a number of years. It should have been developed by this stage and it should be accessing money that would be available from pension funds or the Irish League of Credit Unions.

Until we address some of the key issues, the private rental sector will remain under pressure. It is important that we put this debate in that context. This legislation will address some of the issues we are facing daily. I acknowledge that the Government introduced rent pressure zones, RPZs. People have mixed views on how they operate, but colleagues around the country argue that they need to be extended to other areas that are seeing significant rent increases.

RPZs are designed to restrict the level of rental income, but and various exemptions apply if there are significant renovations. The existing regulations, including the one under which landlords can ask tenants to move on if they want to sell the apartment or house or give it to a family member, have been around for a long time and there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence suggesting that they are not being policed. This Bill provides an opportunity for that policing to happen, which is important. All public representatives regularly see people in our offices who have been told that they must move from their private rented accommodation because their landlords want to sell, need it for family members or want to renovate it. Sometimes, it is difficult to see whether that transaction happens. That issue must be addressed in this legislation. The activities of landlords in that regard must be overseen, which is a matter that the Bill will help.

For the majority of landlords, being compliant is not an issue. They acknowledge and respect compliance and want transparency. They believe that landlords need to be held responsible. For many, their reputation is important to them.

Deputies have mentioned the annual registration of tenancies, which is a departure from the current system. I understand that the charge for registering will be reduced, but the legislation does not specify what it will be. There should not be an additional burden on the landlord, yet registering annually will be an additional administrative burden. There must be a responsibility on the RTB that, when a landlord registers, reminders are sent so that he or she is not caught out inadvertently. It is important that not everything should rely on the landlord having to remember. Why is annual registration necessary if a landlord-tenant relationship endures for longer than a year?

Many of the actions being taken in the Bill are meant to influence and manage the behaviour of landlords, but one of the issues that they have brought to our attention since the Government introduced RPZs relates to situations where landlords had previously been allowing tenants to stay at rents that were significantly below market value. There does not seem to be a mechanism to correct that, particularly if the tenant moves on. It is important that this issue be examined. I am not suggesting that there should be a free for all, but I have seen cases in my area where the rents being charged are significantly - not marginally - below market value. How might landlords be in a position to address that situation?

From the point of view of transparency, it is important that we have a register of the actual rents charged. We frequently listen to debates on daft.iereports claiming that rents have increased. Those are the asking rents rather than the charged rents, and sometimes there is a difference. There is no transparency in this regard. Knowing what rents are actually being paid would empower those who are going to the market.

I want to conclude, as two of my colleagues wish to speak, but I will first raise two issues that do not relate directly to the Bill but that I would like the Minister to consider. Deputy Darragh O'Brien also raised them. First, student accommodation is not covered in RPZs, but it should be. This legislation is an opportunity to consider that matter. The second issue is that of a national deposit scheme.

I will make two final points that might be slightly outside the Bill's remit but are directly related to the RTB. Current legislation regarding disputes about anti-social behaviour states that only a person who is directly and adversely affected by such behaviour can make a complaint. In case after case, I have dealt with constituents who have been afraid to make that complaint. In the absence of a complaint, nothing can be done. Will the Minister consider expanding this section so that someone other than the person who is adversely affected - an advocate, public representative or third party - can make it on his or her behalf? I will not put them on the record of the Dáil, but some of the cases are serious. The people involved are genuinely afraid to make a complaint. The legislation needs to be amended to allow a complaint to be made on their behalf.

We have discussed how this Bill will impact on landlords. It is important that it have a positive impact and a positive benefit, not just in terms of price, but also the tenant's quality of life. In that regard, I urge the Minister to re-examine the system of property inspections. The Government has increased funding year on year, but it will take several more years before local authorities are inspecting one in four properties. Interestingly, in 2017, the last year for which I saw figures, more than 12,000 properties of the approximately 16,000 inspected did not meet the standard. That shows the scale of work that needs to be done. Those tenants, who were paying significant amounts of money, deserved to live in better conditions. I suggest that the Government's target of 2021 or 2022 for reaching the point of one in four properties being inspected needs to be fast-tracked. It is relatively small money. The Government is increasing the sum for local authority property inspections by €2.5 million per year. I ask that that increase be fast-tracked so that we can have a more realistic property inspection regime and the standard of property in the private rental sector improves significantly.

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