Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too thank Teachta Cian O’Callaghan for bringing forward this Bill. It addresses one of the many imbalances in legislation that tilts housing provision in favour of developers and away from the interests of working families. Part V provision should not be leased. Leasing is bad value for money and families should not be left to the mercy of the market to fulfil their housing need. We have a housing crisis and particularly a rental crisis. This Government is currently asleep at the wheel. A lady contacted me last week wondering what she will tell her children when the "For Sale" sign goes up outside their home. The landlord is selling the house and she has just been given four months to leave. The only property in Monasterevin listed on daft.ie as available today is a three-bedroom house in Ferns Bridge costing €1,700 per month. There are five in her family and they will be homeless just as the children are due to return to school. Her children will have to be uprooted from their schools and their friends. As the Minister of State knows, councils assist families who are homeless and not those at imminent risk of homelessness. This needs to change. We need urgent action and I do not think we will see this action until we see an election.

Sinn Féin in government will implement an emergency three-year ban on rent increases and legislate for tenancies of indefinite duration. We will also introduce a refundable tax credit for tenants in the private rented sector to put a month’s rent back into every renter’s pocket. We will ensure all rental properties are compliant with minimum standards by introducing a national car test, NCT-style certification system. I was contacted by a man last week who is renting a converted shed that is so cold inside he can see his breath. His clothes are mouldy because of the dampness and he hears vermin in the cavities of the walls at night. He keeps the radio on so he is not woken by the scratching. His doctor tells him he will be hospitalised if he continues to live there. The only property in his town to rent costs €1,000 per month, twice what he is paying to live in the shed in somebody’s garden. He is on illness benefit and his income is €800 per month. Would anybody live in such a place?

The system is broken and it is time for this Government to stand aside and let people who are serious about fixing it to do so. I heard the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, this morning on “Ireland AM” and he kindly decided to tell the people who were watching that programme that he inherited the housing problem and he could not fix it as he had inherited it, but he would do his best. He is in government now and it is his best he needs to do.

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