Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Our message is a simple one. We are asking the Government to acknowledge that there is a crisis in the rental sector and we want actions and not words in regard to this. Absolutely nothing was done in the budget last week for renters across the State but corporate landlords and institutions were supported. They are squeezing every last cent out of everyone who is renting. In my constituency the average increase in rents year to year has been 14.2%. I am aware that rents in Sligo, Leitrim and generally in many areas in rural Ireland are relatively low compared to those in the large urban centres like Cork or Dublin but it is all relative to those paying because wages and salaries are also lower in many of these areas. There is no big surplus for anyone renting in rural Ireland, contrary to common belief. There is still competition for residential rentals in rural Ireland. The Government had a chance to give renters a fighting chance last week in the budget but failed to do so. There was no increase in the HAP limits, for instance, which is a huge problem. There is also no pressure to ensure that people have to accept HAP. There are hundreds of landlords who simply will not accept HAP and are getting away with it all the time. There is also no effort to increase the income threshold for people to get on the housing list, which is another issue the Government has failed to deal with. If the Government had a scintilla of interest in the ordinary working renters across this State it would support my colleague Deputy Ó Broin's motion and would give renters a real break by providing a refundable tax credit and banning increases in rent for three years.

The fact of the matter is we have a situation across the length and breadth of the country where people simply cannot afford to rent. People in my constituency are coming to me, including families renting small properties who have another child on the way. There was a family in last week who have three children already and there is a fourth on the way. They are in a two-bedroom house and they cannot find anywhere else to rent. They are working and earning a salary and they cannot get on the housing list. It is absolutely scandalous that in every part of Ireland this is impacting people's lives to such an extent and the Government seems to be oblivious to it. Everything the Government does continues to make the market the solution and the market has failed in respect of this. That is very clear. If the Minister were honest about it, he would have to accept that the market has failed and that what we have to do is provide more houses directly to people, not just local authority residents but also people who are working, people who cannot get on the housing list but cannot afford the rents that are being charged by these corporate landlords. They are the ones who are squeezing the life out of communities up and down the length and breadth of the country. The Minister says that Sinn Féin is coming up with all the problems and none of the solutions. He is the Minister. His party has been in government or supporting the Government for the last ten years. It has allowed this to happen and takes no responsibility whatsoever. It is absolutely scandalous.

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