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

I too welcome the good news about the progress overnight in Northern Ireland towards the long overdue restoration of the Stormont institutions and the executive.

Is í tithíocht an cnámh spairne is mó sa Stát. Tá géarghá le níos mó tithíocht a aimsiú agus a thógáil go práinneach ach teastaíonn go leor féinsmachta chuige sin. Níl aon dul chun cinn á dhéanamh.

The housing disaster continues to dominate every aspect of Irish life. Last week, we saw new figures on homelessness. Thousands of people, including nearly 4,000 children, are recorded as homeless. Large companies, such as Ryanair, are now resorting to buying up homes for their workforces at scale. Some unscrupulous landlords are acting with impunity. We are seeing the health of renters and local authority tenants suffer due to poor conditions, including mould and damp, with little action or follow-up from inspectors.

It is a core function and duty of the State to vindicate the right of everyone who lives here to have decent, secure and affordable housing. In allowing this housing crisis to deepen and worsen, the Government is failing to fulfil that duty, and people across the country are worse off as a result. I want to focus on the rights of tenants. We spoke last week on Leaders' Questions about the respiratory ill-health of council tenants in the Oliver Bond flats. Today I want to talk about the ways in which the State is also failing renters in the private sector. We are all too familiar with the many cases concerning Luxembourg-based landlord Marc Godart. Without commenting on the proceedings against him currently in respect of unpaid rewards by the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, his other recent appearances in the news underscore the need for stronger legal protections for renters. Mr. Godart's tenants have faced the removal of essential furniture, such as beds and doors, to expedite the eviction process. Some were evicted en masseto facilitate letting through short-stay tourism websites. Others had to deal with the installation of CCTV cameras in their private living areas, which is an unimaginable incursion on people's privacy.

It is true that some of these outrageous actions have been dealt with by the RTB, which is welcome. However, the bravery of Mr. Godart's tenants in coming forward has prompted other renters to contact me, my Labour Party colleagues and no doubt others in this House to tell those stories of poor treatment by landlords in the private rental sector. Unfortunately, while all these experiences were stark, many did not amount to a breach of our weak legal protections for renters. The Labour Party Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill would have addressed all these problems and more but the Government refuses to pass it or to take anything more than token measures to protect renters. No one should have to live in squalor or insecure housing. As long as the Government continues to fail to deliver enough homes, more and more people will be trapped in rental insecurity.

Will the Taoiseach commit to urgently passing stronger legislation to protect renters and will he ramp up delivery of homes? When will the Government act with the necessary ambition and urgency to deliver the supply of houses our renters and all of those who are trapped in insecurity so desperately need?

See this speech in context