Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the 20% cut in funding for rental inspections that the Government is implementing this year. This is despite the targets for rental inspections never being met. When I questioned the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage about it, he said that they are going to continue to rely on virtual inspections. Let us be clear, virtual inspections are not actually inspections. They involve a landlord filling out a self-assessment form and submitting some photos. There is no physical inspection. There is nothing independent about it. There is no ability for an inspector to smell damp or to see anything that a landlord may not want him or her to see. There is, in fact, no inspection at all. It is not an inspection. Why is the Government implementing a cut of 20% on inspections of rental properties? Why, as we emerge from Covid, is there continued reliance on these so-called virtual inspections, which are actually self-assessments? Why are they not being stopped altogether?

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