Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before commenting on the Bill, I wish to respond to some of the comments by members of the Government yesterday and today. During a similar and related debate yesterday, the Tánaiste stated that one person's rent is another person's income and that it was important for the Government to strike a balance between the needs and rights of landlords and those of tenants, a comment echoed today by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. That comment betrays an appalling ignorance of the reality in the rental market. The very widespread reaction to the comments of the Tánaiste yesterday and today is evidence of that. There is no balance at all between the rights of landlords and those of tenants in the current market. That is why there has been a doubling in rent across the State in recent years. It is why very large numbers of tenants continue to be evicted on spurious grounds and why there are so many rental properties that do not meet minimum standards. As local authorities are not resourced enough, they are not equipped to conduct the appropriate level of inspections to ensure all rental tenancies meet those standards.

What was also remarkable about the remarks of the Tánaiste yesterday is that he tried to present himself as the champion of the small landlords. If I were an accidental or semi-professional landlord, I would be most critical not of any member of the Opposition, but of the repeated failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to do anything to stop the disorderly exit of accidental and semi-professional landlords from the market in the past five years. I and other members of the Opposition have been crying out for the Government to come up with a strategy to tackle that problem but the former Ministers responsible for housing, Deputy Coveney and Eoghan Murphy, and the current Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, have all just sat on their hands. The only landlords this Government is really interested in and on the side of are the large institutional landlords. If it is seriously suggesting that the rent of a tenant in such a property should be made equivalent to the income of those institutional landlords who do not even pay any tax in the State in most cases, that speaks absolute volumes.

What do we need? What does the Bill seek to do and what does the Opposition continue to call for? We want a stable private rental sector. We want a private rental sector where tenants have security, affordability and proper standards and where landlords can make a reasonable return for the service they provide. That is what everybody on this side of the Chamber has been calling for since Rebuilding Ireland was first published but none of that is in place at present. Until the Government realises the need for the kind of fundamental reforms that many Opposition Deputies are calling for, as Deputy Bacik doing today, then this problem will continue.

As regards the Bill, the security of tenure provisions are very welcome, particularly the provision ending the use of sale of the property as a grounds for a notice to quit. If I were to encourage Deputy Bacik to go one step further, all I would say is that although section 11 is good, 24% of notices to quit are currently grounded on use by a family member and the fact that this ground is not removed completely by the Bill gives me a concern that landlords who today might use vacant possession on sale to justify a notice to quit could in the future try to use what is provided for in the Bill. We may discuss that further if the Government ever allows us to get the Bill to Committee Stage.

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