Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister has left, there is not much point saying it here, but I can send him on the details of it. If he wants an honest debate it can be on the Limerick regeneration programme. For instance, in St. Mary's Park in my city there are 21 vacant houses owned by the local authority which does not have the money to do them up. This regeneration programme has been ongoing for 12 years. If the Minister wants to talk about councillors objecting to planning, he should go to Limerick and look at the activities of the Fianna Fáil councillors and public representatives there. They have a detailed printed leaflet explaining how to object to social and affordable housing in their area. If that is the honest debate he wants to have, then let us have that debate.

Returning to the motion, renters need security and an extension of the eviction ban. They need that automatically. Our constituency offices are inundated with people who are worrying what will happen when the eviction ban ends. There is no clarity as to what is happening. These are stressful times for people. On Monday, two couples were in with me. That would be unusual; I would normally have many more than that. Both couples are the subject of notices to quit. The landlord has not given them the notices but he stated that cannot wait to do so because he wants to sell the two properties. The Minister said we are always criticising landlords. Many landlords bought properties during the crash when they were cheap and now they are at the highest they have ever been. That is why the bulk of them are selling. It is not because they are suddenly not making money from being a landlord. They are selling it to get the profit now.

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