Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is correct that there is no silver bullet for the housing or rental crises, but the Bill is a bullet. It is a very good Bill. It is short but it is potent and, if implemented, it will make a real difference. There is no reason why it should not be implemented. As Deputy Ó Broin, the proposer of the Bill, stated, a version of this has been done before. It is not unconstitutional to bring in a ban on rent increases. The Labour Party did so on two separate occasions while it was most recently in government, so it can be done.

The proposer of the Bill and all those who support it acknowledge wholeheartedly that it will not solve every single element of the rental crisis that is occurring within the housing crisis, but it will go a long way to providing some security and certainty. The next step would be to reduce rents. To freeze rents at the incredibly high rate is insufficient. Deputy Paul Donnelly, who may have left the Chamber, went through a list of rent prices in his constituency of Dublin West, where the rent prices are similar to those in my constituency. The rents that are now accepted as the norm are absolutely astronomical, such as €2,500 a month for a modest three-bedroom home in a suburb of Dublin or another major city.

The rental crisis may be concentrated and most dramatic in cities but it is in every county in the State. In every village and hamlet there are manifestations of the rental crisis. It cannot be lost on any Member who is in any way connected to his or her constituency just how dramatic the rental crisis is. I receive daily phone calls, emails and social media communications about it. I recently restarted my advice clinics post Covid. The first constituent to come through the door was there regarding the rental crisis. The constituent in question is a non-EU citizen, a worker paying a high rent of €1,200 a month and working seven days a week not only to pay the rent but to raise a family and pay all their other bills. However, the family is now going to be the victim of a no-fault eviction because the landlord wants to sell the home. One search on daft.iefor a similar-size property in the areawill show that the rent to be paid by that family will jump from €1,200 to more than €2,000. That is unaffordable without State supports. This individual, like so many others, will have to go through the very difficult and arduous application process for HAP. The family does not want to be on HAP but that is what they will have to do.

They do not even know if they will be entitled to it, but they are going to have to go through the process anyway. If they do not meet the threshold to qualify for HAP, they are going to have to make choices in their life which will diminish their standard of living to such a degree that the "E" word, emigration, is considered again. Those who have been connecting with their constituents, particularly anyone who has been campaigning in the Dublin Bay South by-election, where 44% of residents are renters, know that the word "emigration" is being used more consistently, not just by young people but by people who are renting. It was put to me very succinctly and directly by a man in Irishtown a few days ago. He told me that the last time we had a wave of emigration in this country it was because there was no work. Now there is work, but the work is not paying for people to be able to afford to live. Fundamental to that is the cost of providing a roof over a person or a family's head. Those who are most vulnerable to that are tenants. The beauty of this Bill is its simplicity and how concise and short it is. That is why it is potent. It cuts to the very heart of why people are so insecure and are worried about their future - not just in their home, but in their city and country.

Before the pandemic, it was estimated that one in ten households missed a rental payment due to financial difficulties. I am not an economist. I am not sure whether there are any such people in this room at the moment, but I think we can all make an educated guess that as the pandemic continues to be tackled, hopefully, and as we relax measures and try to move on, that number will jump. It will rise to a large degree. Significantly more than one in ten households will be missing a rental payment due to financial difficulties. Yes, these people may be working after the pandemic, but they will be working in insecure employment with low or middle incomes. Their rent will have increased to such a degree that they will not be able to afford to pay it. That is the reality of it. That is where this Bill is coming from.

As we have all said, this Bill is not a silver bullet. Last week, my colleagues, Senator Bacik, and our housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan, launched our own renters rights Bill. There is a lot of overlap in Bills that are being proposed by the Opposition. Indeed, a very strong suite of Bills is being proposed by Members of the Opposition. When the current Minister was an Opposition Deputy in the not too distant past, he proposed Bills with contents that overlap with the Bills we are presenting now. I am sure Deputy Ó Broin and others who have drafted Bills to tackle the issue will agree that we need to remove no-fault evictions. We need to remove them straight away. If a person is paying their rent and adhering to the rules as per their tenancy agreement, they should not be allowed to be evicted. We need to remove the ground that allows a landlord to terminate a tenancy on the basis that they intend to sell the property within three months. That is an absolute nonsense. I am sick to death of seeing people evicted for that reason and seeing the property lie either vacant or, more often than not, unsold for it to go back on the rental market at a much higher rate to get new tenants in. That must stop. We must provide that landlords can only evict tenants for renovations when no reasonable measures can be taken to maintain the dwelling as fit for human habitation. It is another flimsy excuse that some improper landlords are using to remove tenants from their homes.

There are heartbreaking and truly sad stories out there of families investing in their rental properties. I am not talking about investing by putting chandeliers in halls or building extensions. I am talking about simple investments like painting a child's bedroom with the child, picking out a colour, asking them what colour they want for their big-boy or big-girl bedroom, getting a new bed, putting a few pictures up and perhaps putting a shelf up on which to place their special photos or toys. I am talking about those kinds of investments. They are investments that might cost €100 and a weekend of labour and fun, only for the family to receive a letter through the door on the Monday telling them that they have to be out within three months because the landlord is selling the house or wants to do renovations. It is absolute nonsense. It is breaking the hearts of people in this country who are just trying to live a modest life and are abiding by every single rule that is being asked of them. As a country, we cannot stand over this anymore. It has gone beyond partisan politics. There is a consensus of opinion in terms of what is happening out there. However, we are not reaching a consensus on the measures that need to taken from the Government side. It is holding back on the key measures that need to be introduced to stop events such as those I have described from happening. It breaks the hearts not only of the parents but also of the kids. Their parents have to tell them they are sorry and they know their room has been done up, but they have to move on. When the child asks to where they are moving, if they will be able to hang out with their friends, if they will have to move school and if they will stay in their new home forever, their parents will tell them they do not know. Their parents will tell them it is unlikely that they will stay in the new home and they may have to move all over again. It is absolutely scandalous. That is a word that is overused and which has perhaps lost all meaning. It is truly wrong, but it is what is happening right now in this country.

The Government should not kick the can down the road on this Bill. It is a simple, good Bill. It will help. Unfortunately, it is not going to pass because of this can-kicking measure that the Government is introducing. It is wrong.

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