Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter. I begin by referring to a previous debate in the House on the same subject matter, not last month or the previous month but in December last year. During that debate I stated emergency legislation to freeze rents was required immediately, and this was almost a year ago. During the debate I, among others, made the point the situation of families becoming homeless would inevitably get worse. It is unprecedented because we have never been in this situation in the history of the State. Historically, when we have thought about homelessness we tended to think about individuals who are homeless but this has all changed. This is one of the legacies and part of the fallout of the so-called Celtic tiger, when the people on the opposite side of the House, who are not here, ceased building houses for social housing and did not fund it for years. They promoted the idea that everyone could be a private home owner and one could build here or there and that if one wanted to be a landlord one could build two or three houses and rent them out. This is what got us to where we are now and the situation is getting worse.

With regard to families becoming homeless, it is predominantly an issue that relates to the private rental sector. Everyone in the House knows rents have gone through the ceiling and the private rental sector can charge whatever it wishes. Rents continue to increase and I see this in my constituency. It is a big problem. One of the new features of homelessness is that it is not people who are out of work and unemployed who cannot afford private rents, we now have cases where families with two breadwinners are affected because the landlord continuously puts up the rent and these families are priced out of it. This is happening on a very large scale and is why we have the stories we speak about almost daily regarding the number of children who are homeless.

This is preventable. Unless someone else has a solution to it, I hold to the view I took last December that we need to take control of the increase in the private rental sector. The only way to do this is with a rent freeze for a period of two years to allow the Government to start to build social housing again and to allow the private sector to commence the construction of private homes. It is the only way to do it.

There are good and bad landlords, and I have met both types as, I am sure, have other Members of the House. Not all landlords are necessarily bad. However, I must say the vast majority of them are exploiting the present situation where there is not sufficient availability of rented homes. Rents continue to increase and will continue to do so unless the Minister and I as legislators do something about it.

I raise this issue again so the Government will make some commitment to introduce emergency legislation to stop this continuing problem of families and people who never thought they would be homeless ending up homeless.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, who is unavoidably unable to take the matter. I thank Deputy Moloney for raising the issue.

The Government is fully committed to addressing the issue of homelessness. There has been a focused and co-ordinated approach to tackling homelessness across Government Departments and agencies. The homelessness policy statement makes explicit the commitment to end involuntary long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. The Government is fully committed to achieving this target, though it remains challenging given the continuing numbers of those presenting as homeless.

A range of measures is being taken to secure a ring-fenced supply of accommodation to house homeless households and mobilise the necessary supports in order to deliver on the Government’s 2016 target. These measures have been identified in the Government's implementation plan on the State's response to homelessness and in the action plan to address homelessness.

These plans represent a whole of Government approach to dealing with homelessness, and the implementation of measures identified in these plans is being overseen by a group of senior officials drawn from key State agencies dealing with homelessness. Progress in implementing both of these plans is reported directly to the Cabinet committee on social policy and public service reform.

The long-term solution to homelessness is to increase the supply of homes. A range of measures is being progressed under the Government’s Construction 2020 strategy which is designed to support an increase in housing supply generally. In addition, in November 2014, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, launched the Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020. This six-year strategy sets out to provide 35,000 new social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion and restore the State to a central role in the provision of social housing through a resumption of direct building on a significant scale by local authorities and approved housing bodies. In addition, the strategy envisages delivering up to 75,000 units of long-term quality accommodation to meet housing needs through local authority housing support schemes. In the interim, while the delivery of these units is ramping up, a range of complementary measures is being implemented across Government agencies.

The Department of Social Protection continues to exercise discretion on a case by case basis for rent supplement clients who are at risk of homelessness as a result of demands for increased rents from landlords.

Under its interim tenancy protocol and national tenancy sustainment framework, "uplifts", or in other words, increases in the level of rent supplement normally allowable, have been granted to more than 3,500 households. A number of complementary awareness campaigns have been initiated to increase public knowledge with regard to tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities and where to access services and advice. The Dublin local authorities have been campaigning extensively in their region and the Department of Social Protection has been engaging directly with its clients. The Private Residential Tenancies Board has been overseeing national print, online and broadcast media advertising.

Local authorities are implementing a significant programme of returning void units to productive use, especially in the Dublin City Council area, where approximately 500 units have been brought back into use to date in 2015, with further works being progressed. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, is committed to the continued funding of this programme, with the expectation that the city council will have every lettable unit in its ownership returned to use in the short to medium term. Furthermore, the Minister has issued directions to key local authorities to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households in the allocation of tenancies under their control. He recently extended this direction and it will apply until 31 January 2016.

The Government keeps the housing market and housing supply issues in particular under review and further measures, including those relating to rent certainty, are under consideration. Intervention in housing market issues raises many complex economic and legal issues and any measures proposed must be balanced and have the desired effect on the rental market while being fair to landlords and tenants alike.

Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. The number of families becoming homeless will continue to increase unless some form of emergency legislation to freeze private rents gets priority from this House. If a rent freeze is not legislated for immediately, many families now in the private sector will be forced from their homes. Many landlords, as I already stated, are exploiting the fact that the demand for rented premises is outstripping supply. In reality, most landlords are increasing their rent without any link to the cost of living index. The sector has gone crazy and landlords have free rein, if I can use that phrase again.

It is worth reminding the House that it is our function in this Dáil to legislate for the common good. It is not the function of this House to allow landlords free rein when misery is created for families who are turfed out of private rented accommodation. We have a role in this and we should be here for the common good rather than the protection of one sector of landlords who can charge what they like. On 28 February, a motion in my name at the Labour Party conference called for a two-year rent freeze. The motion was passed unanimously, making it party policy. If the threat of additional families becoming homeless, and the misery associated with that, is to be halted, only prioritised legislation - the freezing of private rents - can be effective.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I have listened to the main points from Deputy Maloney in response to the contribution from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I will make three points in return, based on my personal experience of the matter and the input I can give through the Cabinet.

The first point is that I agree entirely with the Deputy's argument that we should be governing with a mind to the common good. I can think of few examples which are more threatening to the common good than the number of families, in particular, now facing homelessness and the larger number which face the risk of homelessness. I have dealt directly with the matter through my constituency work and I know the incredible misery and stress this can cause. I also know the measures being taken to provide other forms of accommodation for people, including hotel accommodation, although that is an emergency action that is, in turn, unsustainable for families in the long run.

A second point is that we must examine additional measures to bring forward quickly a supply of housing stock in the short term. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, has outlined all the measures likely to improve significantly this matter in the medium to long term as housing stock increases but that is no comfort to anybody who is homeless tonight or worried about being homeless before Christmas. We must contemplate how we can quickly bring about different forms of accommodation that will offer respite to people, as we face a darkening position.

I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Kelly, about my third point and I am sure he is aware of the Deputy's view on the matter. I will relay it to him in any case. We must now examine measures relating to certainty of rents and what rents could look like in future. I know the Minister, Deputy Kelly, is working on that now. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and I will ensure the Minister is made aware of these issues at our Cabinet meeting next week.