Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Ó Laoghaire who pointed out in 2018 that there was insufficient or no regulation of some private security firms. He brought that to the attention of the Minister for Justice and, along with Deputy Martin Kenny, he later introduced legislation on the matter. In fairness, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, did not oppose it. We can see that in this room and beyond, there is absolute agreement on the necessity for this legislation. The two events that stick in our minds are those that happened in North Frederick Street in Dublin and Strokestown in County Roscommon. The way that some private security personnel acted was absolutely scandalous. It was utterly ridiculous and would remind one of pictures and scenes from the period of the Famine and the Land League. Such scenes have absolutely no place in the Ireland of today and in that context we need this legislation to be done and dusted quickly.

I concur with Deputy McGuinness that we need an entire regulatory system governing evictions and the unfortunate circumstances in which some people find themselves. We all know of cases where the State or NGOs have delivered solutions, whether through approved housing bodies, AHBs, local authorities or mortgage-to-rent arrangements and we need to facilitate this wherever possible. Like many others in this Chamber, I find it very difficult to decontextualise this or remove it from the wider question of the housing crisis. If we are to see fewer evictions, we need not just regulation but a consistent, constant supply of right-priced houses and rental units. We need a system that will deliver. We all accept, across the board, that the housing policies and systems that have been in operation for many years have not delivered and are not fit to do so. We must deal with issues like tax breaks for real estate investment trusts, REITs, which are certainly not delivering for regular people. We must put a system in place that delivers. The public system must do what is required. We must invest money and build on public land. We must provide cost rental, affordable mortgages and council housing options. Beyond that, we must create vehicles to allow private money to be invested in decent land deals that will produce proper developments for the people of this country.

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