Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies who brought forward this legislation. I also thank the Irish Examinerand specifically Ann Murphy for her work on this because she doggedly pursued this issue, brought it to public attention and should be acknowledged for that. I am glad the Government is not opposing the Bill. It would be better if the Government supported it. I think we are all getting a bit tired of coming in here to be told the Government is not against it but is not actually doing anything about it. I welcome the fact that some work is underway but as an Teachta Ó Broin said, it would probably be better - I do not mean this disrespectfully - if we were debating Government legislation because it would be done more quickly. The general consensus here is that the best way to resolve this is the quickest way.

I also hope the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is watching this debate because in truth, the conditions for renters are in no small part the reason for the creation of the atmosphere in which this practice is happening. It is not the only reason but it is certainly a contributory factor. In that regard, I will read into the record a message from one of the Minister's constituents. It concerns her brother, who is looking for accommodation at the moment. He has been looking for one-bed accommodation for months and has been in and out of flats and studios. The constituent said:

The last straw...was a viewing which took place on St. Patrick’s Day for a one bed flat in [north County Dublin]. I accompanied my sibling to the viewing as it was local. I won't say where it was, but we were both shocked that in this day and age in March 2022, a one bed flat, with mould on the walls in the bathroom, no shower...dirty and smelly, was on the market at for 1200 euro.

She said that her sibling was so desperate he would have taken it because that is the market at the moment but that other people were so desperate, he did not even get the chance to take it because it was gone before they got there. That is the atmosphere, that is the rental market and the vulnerability and there are people there to exploit so we need to act on this.

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