Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 went through the Seanad last week and is in the Dáil this week. It is the Government's latest effort to deal with this issue. We have been calling for a rent freeze of three years or more and I urge the Taoiseach to consider it. I do not buy any of the argument about it being unconstitutional. I know because I got the constitutional advice from the then Attorney General. Our housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan, has highlighted a major flaw in the latest Bill. While the Minister is seeking to limit rent increases to 2% a year or in line with inflation, whichever is lower, landlords will be able to increase rents by multiples of that if they have not applied the previous increases in the previous years. The Labour Party tabled an amendment on this in the Seanad but it was defeated by the Government. If a landlord has not raised the rent in the preceding five years because he or she was being sound, it is then possible to raise it all in one go. This is farcical and completely unfair and wrong. I ask the Taoiseach, please, to accept amendments in the Dáil. If there is not a rent cap, we are, in essence, allowing landlords to increase rents by multiples of the allowable amount over a number of years. It is genuinely not fair and it is misleading. I ask that he please consider it. I believe it will be a big vote in here when it comes in.

The Minister has sought expressions of interest for nine appointments to the commission on housing. Will they be State board appointments, going through the normal appointments process, or will they be appointed directly by the Minister?

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