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

I thank the Tánaiste for his comments. I commend Naomi O'Leary. Her article makes for chilling reading. Undoubtedly, there are issues with the arbitrary deductions from workers wages and workplace practices.

To return to the issue of Godart's treatment of his tenants, what is the Government going to do to ensure unscrupulous landlords like Godart will be made accountable and that there would be some comeback? Clearly, neither local authorities nor the Residential Tenancies Board currently have the power or capacity to regulate the undoubtedly small number of egregious abuses in the rental sector. Will the Tánaiste bolster the RTB to crack down on those who are exploiting tenants? Clearly, they are not representative of the vast majority of landlords, but right now, the RTB investigations and sanctions unit can only levy fines of up to €15,000. That is not enough to deal people like Godart. In the nineties, we saw how the Labour Party Minister for Finance, Ruairí Quinn, created the Criminal Assets Bureau to go after the assets of criminals, seizing property and going after ill-gotten cash. We now need an enforcement mechanism within the RTB with real powers to go after the small number of unscrupulous landlords who are making life a misery for far too many. Reading Naomi O'Leary's piece, all of us will recall that these are practices from 19th century Land League times. This was why the Land League was set up, calling for fair rent, fixity of tenure and decent conditions for renters. We are seeing some appalling conditions still prevailing for renters in Dublin and across the country today.

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