Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on the amendment as we are on Committee Stage. I support the amendment, on behalf of the Labour Party. It relates to an issue I raised during the Second Stage debate on the Bill, namely, the need to ensure adequate integration of renters into the proposed framework in the Bill. Clearly, the rebate for householders will be welcome, but we have criticised it as being inadequate and merely a drop in the ocean when we see the soaring cost of living crisis that so many households are facing.

On Second Stage I spoke specifically about renters. We know that in Dublin Bay South as many as 44% of all properties are private rentals. Figures from daft.ietoday show a chronic and historic shortage of supply of rental accommodation in Dublin, with just 712 homes are available to rent at an average rent of €2,000 per month. We know that the cost of rent is exorbitant. We also know that, therefore, in any Bill such as this which seeks to address issues with the cost of living there has to be adequate regard for renters.

That is why the amendment is crucial, because it seeks to put in place better protections for renters, specifically to ensure that the Minister will make provision to ensure that renters receive the benefit of the rebate. As I pointed out on Second Stage, we would all hope that landlords would ensure that any saving on bills is passed onto renters, but in the absence of any safeguarding measure in the Bill this could not be guaranteed. That is why it is important that a guarantee such as this is inserted into the Bill. I urge the Minister to accept the amendment. There will be a fairly united front from the Opposition in support of it.

I was dismayed to learn that ten of the 11 amendments have been ruled out of order, as Deputy O'Rourke has said. I also sought to table amendments on foot of the speech I made on Second Stage, only to be told that the deadline for accepting amendments was before the start of the Second Stage debate. I am new to the Dáil, but this struck me as a really poor procedural law. We could not, therefore, have a Second Stage debate in any meaningful way because the deadline for putting forward amendments had already passed. That is the only reason I do not have an amendment on safeguarding. We had drafted an amendment on safeguarding renters, but that was disallowed by the Bills Office. That is not necessarily the call of the Minister, but it is a flaw in the procedure. That is exacerbated by the fact that out of the 11 amendments Members managed to put forward, ten have been ruled out of order. Therefore, this is the only amendment we will have a chance to debate on the floor of the House. That is really unfortunate. It is an important amendment to support and I am glad to do so on behalf of the Labour Party. It will provide more robust safeguards for renters, which is important, in particular in the context of report today on the crucial shortage of rental properties and the 10% increase year on year in the cost of rent across the country.

I wish to emphasise that this is not just a Dublin issue; this is about the cost of rent across the country and the lack of protections for renters more generally. This amendment seeks to address that in the context of a Bill that is about addressing the extortionate rise in the cost of living.

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