Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Bill supports tenants and I give a cautious welcome to that because many tenants are in difficult circumstances. I notice this from week to week in my office when people come in who have been evicted from their homes and have very little recourse. If this Bill helps in some way, I will support it but we must also have respect with regard to landlords. I do not mean those who have 50 or 100 houses. I am often contacted by landlords who have a couple of houses and but find it very difficult to survive given the way many laws are being administered. They have asked me to take that into account when I speak in the Dáil because maybe they feel I speak against them. Most times, I probably do but I certainly want to take their viewpoints on board as well. If we strengthen the laws for tenants, we are beginning to squeeze landlords out of business in many ways. We must be very careful about where we are going with more and more difficult and extreme laws regarding supporting tenants. While the tenant is being made worse off in this situation, and I have seen it in many situations, I would certainly not close my eyes to how the person who owns the property has to survive as well.

This all comes back to the fact that we have a dire problem in housing. I spoke about that at length last night. Many people are caught in a trap. They might have a small wage and cannot get a mortgage to buy a house. Many young people trying to get planning permission in their local community are being refused. This is forcing people into social housing or housing through HAP, which is crazy. It is not something the State can continue to absorb without something bursting.

I am very strong on the issue of planning permission, which is almost a no-go in my constituency of Cork South-West. I call on the mayors of Cork county and Cork city, who are both Fianna Fáil members, to sit down with the Minister - I would be happy to sit down at the table - and forge a realistic way forward. Young people trying to get a start in life are finding it almost impossible to get planning permission. People who do not need any social housing supports are being refused planning permission for the silliest and most nonsensical reasons. At the end of the day, both mayors will have to stand over this process at the end of the year and say whether they have done something about it. One of the them has spoken to me about it and is interested in making some kind of move. In fairness, I appreciate that work.

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