Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and all the work Deputy Ó Broin put into it. It is very important legislation because it is clearly very important to have minimum standards in private rented accommodation. In my constituency, there is a huge amount of private rented accommodation in Rathmines, Harold's Cross and Sandymount. I believe the vast majority of landlords will welcome this Bill. It will help them and their tenants.

The idea of an NCT for private rental accommodation is a very important proposal. While the Government is not opposing the Bill, the concern is that it will be allowed to wither and die, which is what happens generally to Opposition proposals.

I highlight, as I have done many times previously, the fact that there are no minimum standards for flat complexes and public housing across Dublin city. Perhaps there are in theory but in practice, there are none. I was in York Street yesterday. A resident called me up and asked me to have a look at something. He pointed out that the bedroom window, the sitting room window and the bathroom windows in his apartment have no handles. They are locked tight. Two years ago, Dublin City Council told this tenant the handles were broken and would be taken away and put back on later. That was two years ago and he has not yet seen them. The windows have been locked tight since then. That is the sort of neglect residents in Dublin City Council properties face day in and day out.

Another tenant in York Street showed me a balcony door where if you open it out on to the balcony and the door swings closed, you cannot open it because there is no handle on the outside. It is madness that tenants of Dublin City Council properties have to live in those sorts of conditions. The flats in Pearse House, Mercer House, Whelan House and O'Rahilly House in Ringsend were built to take people from the tenements. As one person said to me recently, they are now living in modern-day tenements. There needs to be urgency but there is no urgency in Government.

I was at a meeting with tenants in St. Andrew's Resource Centre about four or five years ago at which Dublin City Council stated it was going to knock down the small block of flats in St. Andrew's Court. A design team has been appointed but people are still waiting four or five years later. A private developer built 21 apartments down the road within two years. There is no sense of urgency. Dublin City Council and the Government show neglect again and again. The Government cannot wash its hands and place the blame on local authorities. It must accept that it has neglected tenants living in the flat complexes for years.

Another time, a resident rang me in desperation because the sewage pipes were flooding into the public domain in Canon Mooney Garden flats. Raw sewage and toilet paper were floating around. This is where children's toys such as skipping ropes are stored. This is happening every three or four months and I get a call when it does. The council told residents at one point that it would take ten days to get a choke car out. This is not acceptable. People cannot be allowed to live in conditions like that.

We are talking about minimum standards. Dublin City Council and the Government have accepted that there are no minimum standards for flat complexes. It is horrendous. I honestly do not know how there has not been a revolution from those living in the flat complexes. How they have not protested much more aggressively, to put it kindly, is beyond me.

I met a resident in a two-bedroom flat with two sons and a daughter. There is a 25-year-old, a 22-year-old and a 13-year-old girl - two boys and a girl - living in one bedroom. How can that be acceptable? How can the Government stand over that? I know the Minister of State does not stand over it but there must be some sort of urgency here for people living in flat complexes in Rathmines and Donnybrook and all the flat complexes across the city. I am naming the ones in my constituency because they are the people I know and I can see the conditions they have to live in. Raw sewage coming up in public areas because of the neglect by Dublin City Council and the Government is just not acceptable. It is unfair.

The Government must have some minimum standards for flat complexes so residents can report when the heating is broken. The water tank in York Street burst and all the tenants underneath had to be moved out. In fairness, it has been fixed. Normally there are three estate managers in Dublin City Council in the Dublin Bay South constituency dealing with flat complexes. Today, due to illness and promotions, there are no estate managers so tenants come to us as public representatives. We should not have to do this. As a result of the neglect and lack of urgency shown by Government towards those living in flat complexes, we end up having to raise these issues on the floor of the Dáil, which we should not have to do. It is frustrating for me as a public representative so I can imagine how horrific and depressing it is for residents and how having to put up with these unacceptable standards affects families' mental health. We need to see fast-tracking and a sense of urgency regarding regeneration programmes for those living in flat complexes. I will continue saying this until there is some sense of urgency about addressing the neglect of those living in the flat complexes by Government and Dublin City Council.

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