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

The homelessness figures published on Friday showed an increase of 23% in the past year. These are alarming figures. We know a major cause of homelessness is the lack of protection for renters against evictions and simply a lack of supply of sufficient homes for rental. In my constituency of Dublin Bay South, we have a particularly high proportion of households and individuals who are reliant on private rental accommodation. It is one of the reasons that last autumn, the first Bill I introduced in this House as a Deputy was a renters' rights Bill, which was legislation seeking to ensure greater security of tenure for tenants, in addition to ensuring better quality of life, better standards in rental accommodation and a three-year rent freeze to protect against the sort of dreadful hikes in rents we have seen.

I ask the Taoiseach for an update as to whether and when we can see some of the principles in that legislation being brought into force. It was not opposed by the Government and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, said he would look forward to working with me to bring aspects of it into effect.

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