Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is a danger here that we almost get used to this response from Government and become desensitised to it. It is not a response. What has happened here is not acceptable. We have record levels of homelessness and rent and very clear data showing that rent regulation has been utterly flouted across this country. What happens? The Minister responds to this motion, which I thank Deputy Ó Broin for tabling, with a few comments mainly attacking the Opposition, and then legs it out of the House two minutes later. That is his response to record homelessness, record rents and clear data unequivocally showing that rent regulation is being utterly flouted. He just legs it out of the Chamber. That is not okay. Anyone watching this debate who lives in this country, any renter, or anyone who is concerned about the housing situation or homelessness, has a right to expect a serious, considered response from the Government to this. That is not what has happened.

Homelessness levels have never been so high. We have more than 13,000 for the first time living in homeless emergency accommodation. Almost 4,000 children growing up without a home are going to spend Christmas in emergency accommodation along with 190 pensioners. This is very clearly related to the rental sector and the fact that we have some of the highest rents in Europe, and very much related to the data that has just published, which show that rents in the past 12 months in new tenancies are up by 11.6%; the highest increase since records began in 2007.

Just three years ago, when the Government took office, the average monthly rent was €1,226. It is now €1,574 per month, which is an increase of €350 per month or €4,000 per year. The data released shows that rents for existing tenancies went up by 5.3% in the past year. This is existing tenancies, not new tenancies. All of Dublin is a rent pressure zone so rents are not meant to go up by more than 2% annually in existing tenancies under any circumstances. However, rents for existing tenancies in Dublin were up 5.5%. This clearly shows the rent regulations and laws, as we have all being saying for a long time, are being flouted left, right and centre. When he came in, the Minister said that this RTB data "is the most reliable source of data on rents". He then dismissed what the board said about rent regulation by saying the data is not a measure of compliance. That is technically true because the data was not designed to be a measure of compliance. It is a purely semantic argument. This is, as the Minister said, the most comprehensive data on rents. It was not designed as a measure of compliance and, therefore, technically, it is not a measure of compliance. However, let us be very clear. The most comprehensive data we have ever had clearly shows that rent regulation is being utterly flouted and is not working. What did the Minister say he was going to do about this? Actually, he did not say he was going to do anything about it. He spent the rest of his time attacking the Opposition. He did not say he was going to do anything about this at all - nothing, nada, zero. He is the Minister for housing, responsible for the highest level of people who are homeless in the history of this country. He has clear and hard data showing his rent regulation laws are not working or being adhered to and he did not say he is going to do anything about it at all. That is a totally unacceptable situation. He now has hard data. He said it is the most reliable data we have, but if he thinks there is something wrong with it or if it is not sufficient around compliance, he should make sure it is made sufficient or that sufficient data is collected. More importantly, now that he has that hard data, as does the RTB, the Minister should tell us what he will do to make sure rent regulations are enforced. If he does not want to agree with Opposition Members who want to see an absolute rent freeze for the next number of years, he should at least tell us how he will ensure his laws and his rules are enforced and workable. He does not tell us that. He just seems to shrug his shoulders as if it has nothing to do with him at all. He is the Minister for housing.

It is worth making the point that rent regulation across Europe is adhered to and governments enforce the laws around it. They do not just shrug their shoulders and say it has nothing to do with the. Regulation is a normal part of rental sectors across Europe.

Countries with larger rental sectors than ours regulate their rents; that is just normal. Switzerland, for example, where 52% of households rent, regulates its rents. This is just a normal thing to do. In fact, the norm is that where people pay their rent in such countries, they cannot then be subject to eviction. When a landlord sells, they pay the rent into a different bank account. That is all that happens.

I want to address the issue of rent increases outside RPZs. The data clearly shows that rent regulation is being flouted everywhere, within rent pressure zones and otherwise. In some parts of the country where there are no RPZs, some renters have been hit with staggering rent increases of 75%, which are not affordable for anyone in any way at all. The way the rent pressure zone rules are written is such that some people will never be covered by a zone because the rules require a certain number of data points and because of the local electoral areas where those people live. There are never enough data points or registered rent increases for those areas to come into the RPZ rules. In addition, because of the way the rules are written, those people are in areas that will simply never have average rents greater than those in areas such as Cork city, Galway city or Limerick city, so such areas will never qualify as RPZs. Even if the Minister does not agree with Opposition proposals on rents, that is something the Government could fix if it wanted to do so.

There is another thing that would help renters and people in homelessness. This happens where renters have not broken the rental agreement but do not get their deposit back from the landlord. It is withheld. That means they look for somewhere new to live and simply do not have a deposit. They can end up in homelessness. This was legislated for in 2015 so it is on the Statute Book. It would be a good situation and a fair system for landlords as well in situations where the landlord, unfairly, does not have a deposit from the renter to withhold; let us say the renter does not pay the rent for the last month or whatever. It is a system that would pay for itself. In fact, in jurisdictions where it has been introduced, not only does it pay for itself but it also allows some income to cover regulation costs because, obviously, interest accrues from the deposits held under the deposit protection scheme.

When I asked the Minister about this in April of this year, he told me he was "looking at it". That is no good to renters who become homeless because they have handed over a deposit, have not breached the rental agreement, did not get the deposit back, could waiting a long time as that goes through the dispute resolution process with the RTB, and cannot get a deposit together for somewhere new. The fact that the Minister who has been in office for almost four years is "looking at it" is of no use to anyone who may become homeless.

I suppose that is better, though, than what he said about rent regulation being flouted because he did not even tell us this evening that he is looking at that. He did not say he was doing anything about it. He did not indicate anything.

It is not too much to ask, in the context of the highest ever number of people who will spend Christmas in homeless emergency accommodation, including almost 4,000 children and 190 pensioners, the highest ever rents on record and some of the highest rents in Europe, and the most complete data on rents we have ever had, which the Minister accepts as being the most complete data that clearly shows that the rent regulations are not working and are being flouted, that the Government would actually tell us what it will do about this. It would be good if it were to support the proposals that we in the opposition have put forward - that would be the best thing to do - but if it is not going to do that, it should just tell us what it is it will actually do to address this. It now has the hard data. Will it ensure that the RTB is resourced properly to go after every landlord in the country who breaches its rent regulation laws, and when will it do that? Or is it just another case of the Government shrugging its shoulders and saying it has nothing to do with it?

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