Dáil debates

Thursday, 22 February 2024

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:10 pm

I thank the Deputy for raising a number of issues under the umbrella of renting and so on. It is not true to say that no additional protections have been put in place for renters. We have introduced quite a significant number of protections. For example, we have extended the length of notice landlords are obliged to give. The Deputy is correct in what she said about short-term tourist letting. It is frustrating that the Commission has sought further time to review the short-term tourism letting legislation which would provide a statutory basis for the establishment of the STTL register. As the Deputy will know, in November the Parliament and the Council reached a provisional political agreement on the EU STR proposal. Those issues are still with the Commission. We have also introduced a €750 rent credit. That has been taken up by a substantial number of renters, but not all renters. That is something that also needs to be explored.

I also pay tribute to Naomi O'Leary and The Irish Timesfor a very comprehensive investigative analytical piece on Marc Godart. It is extremely concerning. I have read the article and I intend to talk to other Ministers about it, but it seems to me that the Corporate Enforcement Authority should be interested in the article, particularly the issues of nominees, paper directors, shadow Airbnb accounts and ruthless staff practices. From reading that article, it seems to me that issues relating to labour law also arise. There may be a role for the WRC or labour inspectors to investigate how employees of that company were treated. We have read about arbitrary deductions of salary, arbitrary firings of people, supervisors being directed to make sure employees work out the week or month even as they are being fired. Some of them came from South America, for example, with no English language capacity. They have been told it is not enough.

Their only crime was to allow inspectors from Dublin City Council to go in to inspect premises. A person got fired for facilitating an inspection by Dublin City Council. I regard that as very serious. From my reading of it, a range of authorities were affected. These were environmental health officers who went on that occasion. They found they could not enforce because no one was occupying the property.

The Corporate Enforcement Authority should be interested. From a layperson's reading of this, clearly at a surface reading employment law breaches need to be highlighted. In terms of the city council's role and potentially other authorities, I am conscious of my restrictions in parliamentary terms. I want to stay within those restrictions and I will adhere to that.

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