Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for her comprehensive contribution. The average Irish landlord owns one or two properties, while fewer than 10% of landlords own two or more properties. This reflects the underdeveloped and amateur market compared with the European standard of large landlord companies operating multiple properties, which in many cases is to be welcomed. The rental market is changing rapidly, particularly in the context of the collapse of the housing bubble to which the Minister of State referred. This presents a new set of challenges which the original Private Residential Tenancies Bill 2004 did not accommodate. I welcome the Government's new Bill to address the outstanding legal aspects of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB.

It is interesting to note that approximately 29% of the population are renting accommodation, with 18.5% renting in the private sector. What is more interesting is the speed of change. Numbers renting in the private sector have increased by 86%, up from 9.9% since 2006.

A grave injustice is being perpetrated against the providers of private rented accommodation who provide accommodation for 700,000 people. Private landlords are seen as easy pickings in the obsessive manner in which the Government is seeking to raise revenue. However, in the process, it has not given any thought to the issue of fairness. The landlords' national representative body, the Irish Property Owners Association, has invented a new verb to describe the position - "to taxault". The latest taxault is the double taxation this year of the non-principal private residence charge and the local property tax. The Minister for Finance told the Dáil that the local property tax would be tax-deductible, but he then quietly announced that it would be phased in at some stage. Either it is a legitimate expense in the business of letting property or it is not. It is a legitimate expense. If it is a legitimate expense, it cannot be simply phased in as if it is some fantastic concession from the Minister. This is only the latest in a series of taxaults against private landlords. It must be a grave injustice and against all the rules of equity that landlords should this year have to pay a charge of ¤200 next month on the non-principal private residence, followed so far by an undetermined charge by way of the local property tax which we believe will be in the region of ¤1,000 a year, based on location, followed so far by undetermined water charges in 2014, estimated to be an average of ¤500 per household.

The non-principal private residence charge was introduced to pay for local services. However, the users of these services are not the ones who are levied. The household charge was introduced to pay for local services and, again, the users were let off the hook, while landlords were levied. It is not yet known how the water charge will be levied or on whom it will be levied in the case of rented accommodation. I, therefore, ask the Minister of State to clarify the position. To compound the problem, neither the NPPR nor the household charge can be offset against rental income. This surely is another gross injustice.

The Revenue Commissioners describe rental income as unearned income, even though landlords are operating a business, just like other self-employed persons. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, was questioned in the Dáil late last year and his reply was that Revenue designated rental income as unearned income, as if he was not the Minister for Finance who made the final decisions in this regard.

Private landlords are asking to be treated fairly. I refer to the grossly unfair situation where 25% of mortgage interest cannot be written off against rental income, which, in many cases, leads to payment of tax on a business loss. Where is the equity? The Minister for Finance and the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, must realise that private landlords cannot continue to be targeted in this way, when their so-called unearned income is being slashed owing to mortgage costs and the continuing reductions in rent supplement imposed by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. If private landlords were not providing accommodation for the 700,000 who are renting, the Government would be left to provide accommodation for them. It is time private landlords were regarded as partners in the provision of housing for those who need it. Landlords who make a profit will pay tax each year at the marginal rate, with the universal social charge and PRSI contributions, without tangible benefits to them. They also pay stamp duty when purchasing properties and will be required to pay capital gains tax when selling properties. All they want is fairness, which they are not getting.

I welcome the Minister of State's comments about the deposit protection scheme and minimum standards. I congratulate her on the work of her office and Department on unfinished housing estates, an issue also prioritised by Deputy Willie Penrose when he was for a short time Minister of State with responsibility for housing. I note the many good points in the Minister of State's contribution and appeal to her to ask the Minister for Finance to give some consideration to the private landlord who is doing his or her best to provide accommodation for those who need it.