Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will use as little time as I can to allow my colleagues to come in. I thank the previous Deputies who cut their time short. I strongly welcome the Bill that has been brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin. This is something I have always strongly supported and I believe all of those in our communities who believe in fairness and justice will also support it. Only the vested interests would oppose it. I acknowledge there are decent landlords out there, whom I have met, who have not raised their rents to the horrendous levels that we are seeing.

It is disingenuous of the Minister, who has, disappointingly, left the Chamber rather than waiting for the end, to claim that one measure will solve the housing crisis. That is utter nonsense and he knows it. We know the housing sector is in a complete and utter mess but it is not by accident. It is by design. It is the failure of this Government and, in particular, previous Governments over the years who have failed to provide social and affordable housing for people in our community. That has created this situation. The desire and drive to push everything into the private sector and the abandonment by previous Governments of social and affordable housing has led to where we are now. That is important to note.

The Minister mentioned landlords who own one home, and we hear this all the time. However, he never talks about the influx of institutional landlords and vulture groups who come into this country. That is never mentioned in this Chamber. We see them in my constituency of Dublin West. They are buying blocks of apartments and rows of houses because it is extremely profitable. They see that this Government and previous Governments have made any attempt to rein in the ever-increasing rents.

Earlier this week, I received a message concerning a landlord renting two box rooms, one for €550 per month and another for €600 per month. Some landlords are moving families out of their homes to allow them to move individuals in because they can charge such amounts for small rooms and they do not get the same “value" when it comes to families. That is why a lot of families find it extremely difficult to rent accommodation. I met another family recently who had been in housing but had lost the house. They did not qualify for HAP. They were a working family and well above the threshold. They were in a bidding war with other people. It started at €2,000 and ended at €2,400 per month for a traditional three-bedroom house in Littlepace, Clonee. It is shameful that a person would stand there looking at families desperately trying to cobble money together to get up to €2,400 per month. They did it because they had no choice whatsoever.

I support the Bill. I am disappointed that the Government will not support it. It is time that we took on the vested interests, the institutions and vulture groups who are buying huge tracts of property in this country and stood with the people. We should build social housing and affordable housing. We should get people back into affordable rental accommodation to solve this problem for the future. We can do it but it will only be done if people really want to see it done.

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