Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am very proud to wrap up this debate on the first legislation that Deputy Bacik has introduced to this House as a new Member. It is grounded very much in a history of progressive legislation that she has introduced in the Oireachtas that is designed to improve the lives of the many, as this legislation does.

We know that precarious housing leads to precarious lives, a precarious economy and a precarious society. Unfortunately, we have had five wasted years on housing, five wasted years in which fewer homes have been built, five wasted years when we could have fundamentally changed the culture of housing with our hard-won return to economic prosperity, and five wasted years when we could have provided more prosperity and security for those who find themselves renting for longer than they ever would have envisaged.

As many other Deputies have recounted this morning, a day does not pass by, whether it is in my office personally, on the street, by email or on my phone, that I do not come across a case where a constituent in Louth and east Meath presents me with a notice to quit. Given the high rental cost in my area, escalating house prices and a lack of availability of decent, secure long-term accommodation, it is no exaggeration to say that for many the notice to quit is akin to receiving news of a bad diagnosis from a doctor. This devastating news instils the same kind of fear and anxiety in an individual. It is no exaggeration to say it instils panic.

In this case the Minister has the cure at his fingertips. While being critical of elements of the Housing for All package he presented recently, we want to give it a fair wind because if it succeeds, our society will succeed and Ireland will do better as a result. However, for it to succeed Deputy Bacik's Bill will need to be enacted in full. Breathing space and a cultural shift are needed for renters to allow supply to be ramped up.

Deputy Bacik's proposals are legally sound and constitutionally robust. They are also objectively fair and grounded in the experience of residents. As the Deputy outlined in her initial contribution, they are grounded in findings reported by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. This trinity of rights, if I may call them that - security of tenure, addressing rental costs and improving quality of accommodation - can change the face of housing in Ireland. Who can argue with a reasonable measure that has been in place since time immemorial about security of tenure for commercial tenants? Who could argue with the principle of applying that to residential tenants? A three-year rent freeze is entirely achievable and does not conflict with the Constitution. It can be done and the Minister knows it can be done. We have done it before, we have argued for it before and we know it is sound.

Who, too, could argue with an open transparent rental register to allow individuals who wish to rent - and possibly have to rent - to find transparent information about the previous rental costs for the property they might be interested in? That is fair and reasonable. Who should be afraid of transparency?

I note that the Government will not oppose the Bill. However, that is not the same as the Government supporting the Bill, which is the difference. I appeal to the Minister to proactively support this. Even if the Government has some philosophical or practical objections to it, the Bill is rooted in a will for housing to succeed in this country. We genuinely want housing initiatives to succeed because, as I said, if they succeed, we will all succeed and our country will become fairer and better for everybody.

I ask the Minister to give these measures a fair wind. I ask him to support them. He should not send this Bill to the place where Bills are sent to die. It is grounded in reality, in robust research and in the real-life experience of those we all represent for whom we all want to see improvements delivered. I am delighted to support the Bill. I hope it succeeds. I again congratulate my colleague, Deputy Bacik, on this very progressive initiative to support renters.

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