Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to deal with the points raised and the response from Government. I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I am grateful for the opportunity to close the debate for the Government. As the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, outlined earlier, the Government opposes People Before Profit's Eviction Ban Bill for a number of reasons. The Minister also outlined that the Government is currently considering the legal policy issues involved in the extension of the eviction ban. No decisions have yet been made. Cabinet will discuss the issues involved and reach a final decision in the coming weeks. The Department is engaging in detailed discussions with the Office of the Attorney General on the legal considerations of such an extension. Discussions will form the basis of any Cabinet decision. Some Members raised issues such as that this Bill would create a cliff edge whereas the current Act does not. However, a final decision is yet to be made by Government.

The Government is keenly aware of the challenges tenants face. We know supply is key to improving our housing system and it is increasing. Almost 30,000 new homes were built last year. When verified and published in the coming months, figures will show more social houses, new houses and new builds. We delivered more in 2022 than any other year in recent decades or in the past half century. The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 was signed into law on 29 October last. It makes an emergency provision to defer the termination dates of certain residential tenancies that would fall in the winter emergency period beginning on 29 October and ending on 31 March. The aim of the Act is "to mitigate the risk that persons whose tenancies would otherwise be terminated during that period would be unable to obtain alternative accommodation". There is no absolute or any cliff edge. It is staggered, with dates up to 18 June, and gives protections up to that date.

Supply is the key. It is increasing. Some 30,000 homes were built last year, an increase of 45% on the previous year. Affordability is at the heart of Government policy. We wish to build an average of 6,000 affordable homes per annum, consisting of 4,000 affordable purchase homes and 2,000 cost rentals, both of which are under way. We are also looking at the first home scheme and wish to support up 2,000 homes for eligible buyers in 2023, for which €50 million has been provided. I have also spoken about cost rentals. We want there to be 18,000 cost rentals by 2030, an average of 2,000 per year.

Dealing with the Bill and the recent and future changes to Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022, it is important for any rental reforms to be justified and necessary as a matter of priority to avoid the risk of weakness, instability and lack of confidence in the rental sector. Many Members made reference to landlords. We need a functioning system and balance.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae referred to 44,000 landlords leaving the system between 2016 and December 2021. There are still 276,000 landlords. It is not correct of the Deputy to say every landlord pays 56% tax. This depends on the income of the landlord. Some might be paying at the standard rate. It is not a blanket 56% across the board. We need to keep landlords in the system. Many of them are accidental. We also want to have rules in place to provide protection for tenants. It is all about providing balance.

With regard to the Bill presented by Deputy Boyd Barrett and his colleagues in People Before Profit, including Deputy Bríd Smith, I want to point out that section 3 as presented differs significantly from current policy in the rental market. This has been raised in previous debates. If progressed, the provision would legalise the overholding of rental properties by tenants. This is where tenants have been served with notice, the notice period has expired and they continue to pay rent. This may have the unintended consequence that it would be lawful for them to remain. At present where a lawful notice has been served and the notice period expires before the emergency period, the landlord has a legitimate expectation the tenant will leave the property in compliance with the law.

We must recognise constitutional protections and rights. We are striking a balance between the constitutional rights of tenants and landlords. In my experience day to day, I find most tenants and landlords have a good relationship. Deputy O'Donoghue referred to this. There are poor landlords and poor tenants but the great majority of them are trying to get on. This is being missed in the system. We want something that works.

The Government recognises the need to scale up housing delivery substantially and urgently, which we are doing, in emergency accommodation, affordable housing and cost rental. We need to consider carefully the next step to assist those in the rental sector. As set out in the Housing for All action plan, which was updated last November, the Department has commenced a comprehensive review of the private rental sector. This review will take into account the significant change over recent years and will report on how our housing system will provide an affordable, viable, safe and secure framework for landlords and tenants. The cost rental model must also feed into this. Improving standards, security and affordability for renters is a priority for me, and the Government has made significant changes in recognition of the fact that each tenant continues to face persistent pressures in the rental and housing markets. Our approach to change must continue to be carefully balanced. We need landlords to provide a steady supply of rental accommodation for the sector to have a sound footing for tenants and landlords.

I want to go through some of the individual contributions. Deputy Boyd Barrett referred generally to cliff edges. What is provided for at present means some tenants will be affected on 1 April but for many tenants it will be up until 18 June. Deputy Bríd Smith also referred to the cliff edge. I dispute this. She referred to the utter failure of policies. I dispute this. Over the past year we built the highest number of new social housing units. We have a raft of new schemes. I ask Deputy Smith to allow them to take place. We have lost 44,000 landlords and we cannot ignore this fact. We cannot ignore that we need landlords to stay in the system.

Deputy Ó Broin referred to the tenant in situscheme. We have given delegated powers to the local authorities to purchase houses for tenants in situ. Deputy Collins also referred to this. The system is there for people who are on the housing assistance payment. It is working. The local authorities have major flexibility in this area. Deputy Ó Broin referred to the cost rental scheme and local authorities. Local authorities can apply for this under the affordable housing fund as it is. They do not need to apply for the equity loan scheme. That applies to approved housing bodies. Deputy Ó Broin also referred to the cliff edge. I dispute that. It is graduated until 18 June. We have made no final decision on the overall scheme as yet.

Deputy Nash referred to rentals. If we look at the Daft.ie report or any of the reports, we see that the rent pressure zones have worked for sitting tenants. Over the past ten years rents have increased for sitting tenants by approximately 3.7% on average per year. Outside of Dublin it is approximately 1.3%. I accept the point with regard to new tenancies but the point with regard to older tenancies is being lost.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan made various points. He spoke about vacant homes. The Croí Cónaithe scheme is in place. He should be telling his constituents to apply for it with regard to derelict sites, derelict houses and vacant homes. He spoke about the approval process. There is a one-stage process for local authorities if they wish to avail of it. It is not a four-stage process. Deputy O'Callaghan referred to Samuel Beckett and Waiting for Godot, I presume to put in a bit of theatre. He spoke about much-needed new homes. We delivered 30,000 homes in the past year.

I want to be fair to everyone. I dispute the point on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The CSO came up with a model which all of the parties bought into and that should be recognised.

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