Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

One in four of Deputies who will vote on this measure on Thursday is a landlord. Almost one in three members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who will vote on Thursday is a landlord. When Deputy Micheál Martin was asked at the weekend about the double jobbing of one in three Deputies in this House, he stated, "Parliament has to represent the diversity of people." What the Deputy forgot was that while one in four Deputies is a landlord, one in 25 people in general is a landlord. This is not a question of diversity. It is a question of class representation by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They should be absenting themselves from the vote. More importantly, it is a question of politics. It is not about Members' personal interests necessarily. It is about the fact that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael represent the big landlords and the big developers. That is why we have the housing crisis that we have and we need to kick them out.

I have a question for the Minister of State, Deputy English. I asked the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, outside when he was leaving and I got an inconclusive answer. Will the Minister of State meet a committee of people from those who organised the protest on 5 December? They have selected a committee of people and they want to present their demands. They were asked about what they think needs to happen to resolve the housing crisis.

They want to present them to the Minister. Will the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, agree to meet them?

I support the Bill and agree that a rent freeze is not enough given that rents are already unaffordable for great numbers of working class people. What we need in reality are rent controls linked to income. Nobody should be spending more than 20% of their income on rent or accommodation costs. We need a massive public home building project driven by a State construction company. For all those landlords who are talking about the difficulties and so on when, in general, profits are up, there should be an option simply to sell to the State and for the State to provide housing. We should be demanding the nationalisation of the corporate landlords as is being demanded loudly in Berlin at the moment. To make those things happen, we need a movement. On 11 January and 28 March we must make this a huge issue for the general election next year.

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