Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have brought this legislation forward in good faith. When I see an issue which I think needs to be addressed, I try to address it and bring it in front of this Dáil. I do not believe in just simply shouting from the sidelines and I believe in providing solutions where solutions are needed. I say to the Minister of State that I very much welcome that this Bill is not being opposed and I very much look forward to engaging with the Government on Committee Stage, as we do with most Bills. I very much hope that when we go to that Stage, the Minister of State also will do that in good faith and that he will proactively try to fix this particular issue.

I have some issues with what the junior housing Minister said on this particular Bill. I understand that the junior housing Minister is, of course, not present and I understand that the Minister of State present spoke differently on this. However, the Minister of State said that this should not be rushed. Well, I will tell the Minister of State for whom this legislation needs to be rushed. It is for the student I spoke to who lived in a shed where they paid €700 a month. The shed had been converted into two bedrooms with a makeshift kitchen and a shower installed. It had mould and was not suitable for human living. Another occupant who had moved out before this student had come in was paying €600 a month, but the homeowner then increased the rent by €100. That income accrues to the homeowner tax free.

Another student told her story on Monday on RTÉ about how she lives in an attic and shares a bed with another person. Again, this person has no rights but there is tax-free income for the homeowner.

When I say that I am concerned about the fact that we have students sharing beds with other students in a living capacity, when we have students who cannot lock their door at night, I cannot over-emphasise how concerning that is. I am really, fundamentally and deeply concerned that this is the kind of situation which will end up as an "RTÉ Investigates" programme in years to come.

No one will be able to say he or she did not know of the dangers and concerns the students faced. Other women have told me they were required to undertake childminding duties if they wanted to keep the rooms. I have heard plenty of stories of students who were turfed out overnight with no time to try to sort alternative accommodation. The new academic year is just around the corner and therefore, there is a rush. To say there is no rush is simply nonsense. When that housing Minister of State tells us there is no rush, I note there also seems to be no rush in publishing the student accommodation strategy or in giving a single red cent for student accommodation in last year's budget. Where is there a rush? There is a rush in providing vulture fund student accommodation. We have a situation now in which vulture funds own more student accommodation in Dublin than the Dublin universities themselves. The Minister of State with responsibility for housing seems to have bent over backwards when he stated they "will not be in operation when the new academic year starts in September".

The ironic thing, which that Minister of State clearly does not realise, is that the majority of homeowners actually support this type of legislation. They want to know they have greater securities too. I will give the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, the example of an elderly women who is left with a number of an extra rooms in her house and who wants to make a few bob by renting out a room because there is a huge cost-of-living crisis. That person who is renting from her says he or she cannot pay the rent one week. That continues the next week and the next week after that. That woman needs to have rights too and needs to be able to ensure she can enact what is in that legislation. That is why it is so fundamentally important. The Minister of State has brought forward his intention to fast-track legislation on the issue of the 51-week lease requirements. While that is very welcome, there was no rush in that regard, either. The concerning thing is there are students who may have already signed a 51-week lease contract to whom this legislation will not impact. However, it is very welcome and I hope it is brought into legislation and adopted as soon as possible. I welcome that the Minister of State is here and I really welcome the fact he is not opposing this. I welcome that we will discuss this on Committee Stage. However, the previous Minister of State annoyed me with some of his comments.

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