Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two issues in respect of this matter with the Minister. I welcomed the Minister to County Leitrim yesterday. We had a good morning there and several housing projects were opened in Drumshanbo and Ballinamore.

It was welcome and excellent to see it happen. We need to see more of it throughout the country. That is the real problem. I want to make a point that is often made in here about people objecting to houses. We opened those houses in Ballinamore. At the municipal district meeting two of the councillors there actually voted against those houses being built. One was the Fianna Fáil councillor, Caillian Ellis, the other was Fine Gael councillor, Ita Reynolds Flynn. It was great to see them there and it is great that they changed their minds. Hopefully we will see more of that.

In regard to rents, according to Daft.ie today there is an average rise of 4.9% in the country. In Sligo, in the year to date, there is an increase of 12.4% in rents. In Leitrim since last year the figure is 9.3%. Rents are rising for people renting houses in rural areas, well outside of Dublin and the metropolis. That is well outside the norm. That is because, even in those areas, places to live are getting more and more scarce. People renting a house in Sligo are paying €300 more than renters who are already in the county. It is the same situation across Leitrim and other rural counties as well.

We need to get a grip on the situation in regard to rent for people. We also need to get a grip on the situation of landlords who will not take HAP. There are thousands of landlords who are not taking HAP and are squeezing unfortunate people who are in a situation where they need assistance to be able to pay these exorbitant rents and those landlords simply will not take them. Some measures need to be put in place to ensure that can be controlled. I firmly believe that will not be controlled by this Government because it seems to be hand in glove with the large retail landlord sector which has dominated the market. We all know there are small landlords who provide a good service, who are part of the system and who, generally, if the tenant is working well with them, work well for the tenant. We know that. However, there is another sector of landlords who are unscrupulous in the way they deal with decent people who are trying to find a place to live. They evict tenants and then put the rent up. I have dealt with them in my constituency. I am sure the Minister has dealt with them in his as well. We need to recognise that is a major part of the problem and the Government needs to get to grips with it. The only way the Government will get to grips that in my view is when we have a change of Government.

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