Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can cite for the House many terrible experiences I have heard about with regard to tenants, where landlords have been really fair and have invested in the properties in respect of which the tenants have shown abuse. There should be more protections for the landlord than are currently in place. In this regard, I often question the Residential Tenancies Board and some of its outcomes which have been very unfair on the landlords involved.

I am lucky that I own my own house and that in the evening I can go home to my family and I do not have the worry as to when I might get that telephone call and I will be uprooted and have to move. Some families have had to move on several occasions. It is a huge upheaval for a family, in particular where the mother or father might be working in a local area or a child or young person is at school or college in the local area. It is a huge concern. We have an awful lot more to do in this area for tenants.

An issue that has come to the surface over recent years is that of student renters. Previously a student might have been able to rent a single bedroom but now he or she might have to double up with another person. This is a huge problem which requires progressive plans and actions from Government. I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, in conjunction with the Minister, Deputy Harris, to ensure much more conversation take places between the college authorities and the Government regarding college accommodation for students.

At the moment, most colleges are unable to accommodate even their first years students. From my 20 years in politics, I know that would never have been the huge problem in previous years that it is now. There is much more that can be done for students. I ask the Minister to work on this with his Department and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

There has been much talk about rent freezes, but they bring their own problems. They can lead to a situation where landlords are left with nothing to invest in their properties other than the minimal in terms of renovation, painting and so on. Have the rent caps worked? Yes, they have worked in some areas. Have landlords cheated the rent caps? Some of them certainly have and they have not been penalised for their actions. Going back to my earlier point, we need to look after smaller landlords, that is, the man or woman with one to five properties. In the main, most of them are really good landlords, who treat their tenants well and look after their properties, but they have continuously come in for negative publicity. A huge number of them have exited the rental market in the past number of years because of the changes, such as the 50% tax, and the negative publicity that tars them all with the one brush. They never seemed to get a break in recent years.

I support the Bill. There is much more that should be, and could be, included in it. I have no doubt the Minister will bring those measures forward in due course.

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