Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In broad terms, I too stand in firm support of the provisions of the Bill which intends to rectify the power imbalance between renters and landlords that plagues the private rental sector, where acute pressure exists. The sector increased by 109% between 2002 and 2016, accounting for almost one fifth of households. Pressures in the sector are driven by rising demand, a lack of supply and the high cost that indebted landlords face in servicing their loans. Security of tenure and rent certainty are principles that my party advocates for very strongly. It has done so for decades. Sinn Féin brought forward two Bills similar to Deputy Bacik's Bill during the previous Dáil, calling for a host of protections for renters and seeking to legislate for the break they clearly deserve.

The Bill proposes a range of amendments, including to extend rent pressure zones across the country, but that is too little, too late, as we are already in the situation where individual earnings have not risen in line with the 8.9% national average of rent inflation in the past year. We in Sinn Féin would alternatively enforce a ban on rent increases, which is different from a rent freeze as it allows rent to decrease. In terms of safeguarding against evictions, I was informed by Threshold advocates in Galway, for example, that almost half of the termination of tenancy notices they investigated in 2020 were illegitimate. Sinn Féin believes the Bill could go further and provide more definitive protection for renters. We would remove the use of a family member as a ground for eviction altogether, for example.

I support the Bill, but excuse me for having doubts. In Clare, for example, renters are particularly exposed. Rents have increased by approximately 15% over the past year. The fact that the private rental market is dysfunctional has much to do with limited supply. Limited supply is directly related to the over-reliance on HAP and RAS social housing supports, which are often not long-term in nature and distort the actual social housing needs of the population. In Clare, there appears to be a conveyor belt of people threatened with homelessness. Yes, there is progress with families and people successfully stepping down from emergency accommodation, but there are always more entering. It is a constant cycle, and evidence of a deeply broken housing sector.

There are suitable sustainable solutions. Our party supports increased investment in and development of cost-rental units at scale, which is an approach given scant attention by the Government because it would destabilise the landlord class. This Bill will be helpful but may not deliver the radical system change that is necessary.

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