Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy Sherlock might assist the House in regaining some of the time lost.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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That would be my intention. I wish to speak for people who are living in private rented accommodation throughout this State, much of which is substandard. Many of these people are on local authority housing lists. I do not want to be overtly political about this or seek to score points. I am not raising this issue for the purposes of putting a clip up on Facebook. I merely wish to raise the matter on the basis of the increasing number of people contacting with me who are living in what can be only described as hovels which have passed muster for the purposes of the housing assistance payment, HAP, but in respect of which there does not appear to be a proper inspection regime. I am not seeking to apportion blame. I merely wish to speak for these people.

In one instance, a family came to tell me about mould and damp on the walls. There are all sorts of public health issues arising from that, with children presenting with severe respiratory illnesses as a result of living in substandard accommodation. If the inspection regime was buttressed and kick-started, that would help the situation.

In a parliamentary reply to my colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, in respect of Cork, it was stated that up to September 2020 there were 611 inspections carried out. A total of 601 improvement letters were issued on foot of those inspections. Similarly, up to September 2020, in Cork city 434 inspections were carried out, 96 improvement letters were issued and one improvement notice was issued. The local authorities are at the pin of their collars in trying to manage this service. It is unfair to expect them to do more with less in terms of the number of employees who are tasked with this job, in respect of whole-time equivalence as to personnel.

In the absence of an adequate supply of social housing stock - a supply issue which will pertain for the foreseeable future – the inspection regime should be robust. If a landlord acts immorally or unethically in relation to his or her tenants, and does not meet the terms and conditions of the legislation as laid down by this House, the inspection regime should be robust and enforce the legislation so that landlords carry out their obligations.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this matter. I appreciate the genuine way in which he put his concerns forward. I accept that those concerns are valid.

The Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 specify requirements on a range of matters such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supply. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure their properties comply with these regulations. Responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority.

The strategy for the rental sector recognises the need for additional resources to be provided to local authorities to aid increased inspections of properties, as the Deputy alluded to in terms of the figures he quoted from the reply to the relevant parliamentary question. In fact, significant and increased Exchequer funding has been made available to local authorities since 2018. Since then, the amount of money allocated has increased by 300%. I accept demand had increased also. In 2021, my Department provided €10 million of funding, up from €2.5 million three years earlier. The aim is to enable local authorities to target 25% of all local rental properties for an annual inspection. Significant progress has been made across the sector and the number of inspections has more than doubled from 19,645 in 2017 to 40,728 in 2019. However, given the need for inspectors to enter tenants' homes, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have greatly impacted on private rental inspections. The County and City Management Association's current guidance does not permit rental inspections during levels 4 and 5 restrictions. This is to protect tenants, landlords and inspectors.

On-site inspections fell, understandably, to just over 24,000 last year. However, the local authority sector has been innovative in its response to the pandemic in this area. Local authorities have been piloting virtual inspections over recent months and my Department has been happy to facilitate this initiative across the country, most especially with appropriate funding for these inspections. Dublin City Council has led the initiative, which entails landlords receiving a checklist for self-assessment and being required to submit photographic and video evidence by email. Tenants have been invited to raise any issues or instances of non-compliance that they are aware of and the council reserves the right to conduct a physical on-site inspection, when it is safe to do so. While virtual inspection systems, at present, have certain challenges and limitations, they have offered a way of providing a standard of rental accommodation despite the pandemic restrictions we are in. I am optimistic that they can and will continue to form part of a newly enhanced post-pandemic inspection regime.

Like the rest of the country, the sector awaits the full opening of our economy. My Department continues to work closely with local authorities to make sure that once it does, they will be ready to return quickly to their traditional inspection regimes augmented by virtual inspections, so that it can go towards reaching the ambitious national target we have set.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the fact that this is on the Department’s agenda in the context of providing increased funding. I would argue, however, that while an increase of €10 million from €2.5 million is dramatic, when one factors in a county like Cork, I am not sure how far €10 million would go if it was extrapolated out across all counties. I ask that this be looked at again.

We all know landlords; they live among us. Ninety-nine per cent of the landlords I have met are very good and decent people who want to ensure that their tenants are protected and that they live in accommodation of a proper standard. They are very proud of the fact they have long-term tenancies and agreements with letters, and so on. However, there are a small minority who I would describe as slum landlords. In one instance, someone approached me last week to say they had asked for a simple repair and were told that if they did not like it, that they could sling their hook. The landlord in that case is in receipt of a supplement or subvention from the State in respect of the property involved. That is the mere point.

There is a moral and ethical argument here in the context of tenants who cannot get local authority houses at present because of a lack of supply. These are tenants of long standing. Some are happy to maintain their arrangements if the repairs can be carried out. There needs to be a follow up for those people as to the inspection regime. I am very conscious that we are in this pandemic, however, I make the case and highlight the fact that the inspection regime needs to be kick-started as soon as we can.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Deputy. His point is very well made and his concerns are very valid; I fully accept that. As I have said, there is a target for 25%, more needs to be done and we are trying to achieve that with increased funding, albeit in very constrained circumstances due to the pandemic. My Department has increased funding. As I said, the current €10 million budget should allow the sector to inspect almost one in four of all rental properties each year. The regulations also empower local authorities to enforce these standards through financial and other penalties, with the aim of trying to ensure that everyone in our country can live in a high-quality home. The Deputy referred to very vulnerable individuals and it is our absolute will and intention to protect them, and that is why we are increasing funding.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also greatly impacted on rental inspections but, hopefully, it will be safe for rent inspectors to conduct on-site inspections very soon. I commend the local authorities for participating in the new initiative, the virtual inspection pilot project, which saw some 14,000 conducted last year, especially in Dublin City Council, which led the initiative. The support of local authority enforcement of minimum standards in rental accommodation will continue to be an important element of our rental market strategy. It will be included in the upcoming whole of Government approach housing for all strategy, in which we will commit to continued investment as well as strategic development of the area for the benefit of tenants and landlords alike. It is very important that this is a key focus of Government.

The Deputy's input today is key in guiding us by articulating very vulnerable positions within his community and we will work as hard as we can to ensure this will be increased. As Minister of State with responsibility for local authorities, I will also keep in close contact with them on this matter.