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

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of this Bill and to confirm that I will be voting in favour of it. The provisions of this Bill are quite similar to those in legislation - the Housing Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill - I sponsored over 12 months ago. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against that legislation. I welcome the road-to-Damascus conversion of Fianna Fáil on this occasion but I think the latter may be more to do with the forthcoming general election than anything else.

As already stated, the Bill that I sponsored more than a year ago contained very similar provisions to those contained in the Bill before the House. It included the prohibition of rent increases, a reduction in rents, the prohibition of eviction from buy-to-let properties that are sold and a statutory declaration of a housing emergency. A recent Threshold report found that the rental market in Ireland is insecure, unaffordable and of poor quality. There is no security of tenure, no real rent control and rental properties are generally of poor quality. The sale of buy-to-let properties with vacant possession is a very serious problem which is leading directly to homelessness in many cases. There is no rent control whatsoever on new tenancies.

Rents have skyrocketed in recent years and are now out of control. Everybody knows this except the Government, whose members have their heads stuck in the sand. They seem to believe that we are getting places with the rent pressure zones but the fact is that many people in Dublin are paying over €2,000 per month in rent. That equates to €24,000 per year, which is astronomical. Even in the rent pressure zones, rents are approximately twice what they should be. Many low-income families are falling between two stools in that they do not qualify for local authority housing or for a mortgage. In Tipperary, for example, a family of two adults and two children earning €27,501 will not get on the local authority housing list and have absolutely no possibility of getting a mortgage. On that kind of income, the maximum mortgage allowable, even if one was available, would be €96,250 but the average price of a house in Tipperary is €183,688. Of course, those applying for mortgages must have a 10% deposit, which is practically impossible. Many families are now paying 40% or more of their income in rent. Even HAP tenants are paying €200 per month in rental top-ups. The situation is hugely difficult for ordinary families and it must be tackled. The measures in this Bill will go some way towards tackling it. While more needs to be done, I will certainly support the Bill.

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