Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. One of the most important issues facing the Government is housing - social housing and private rented accommodation. In the past, people alluded to the "flatland" which was part of Dublin for many years. As a student in Dublin, Ranelagh was known as "flatland" because everyone had a bedsit there or stayed in a bedsit with friends or family. That day should be gone. I am pleased the minimum standards regulations have been introduced as I do not think we can expect anyone, no matter what the age, student or pensioner, to share sanitation and cooking facilities in old run-down properties. I am sure landlords will come up to the mark and, if not, the law will apply to them equally.

In regard to the private rented sector, I sympathise with many landlords who got into the business as a long-term investment. It is good for the economy that they would provide long-term accommodation. In Ireland people get into the property market for a short-term profit. I can only relate the experience of the housing estate where I live in Letterkenny. I have noticed over the years that people came in and bought a property which they sold a year later and probably got ¤50,000 or ¤60,000 equity.

Many of these houses were bought up by investors leading to half of the houses on the estate being owner-occupied with the other half rented. This is a pattern that was repeated across the country which destroyed many estates. One upside of the economic downturn is that people are choosing to keep their homes for longer which gives estates a sense of community. Many of us will have attended resident association meetings one year only to note the following year all the members had left because they had moved on.

As a member of the Simon Community in the north west, I am delighted the Minister of State will include voluntary housing associations in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012. Some claim there is no homelessness in certain areas. However, the definition of homelessness is not just confined to someone living on the street under a cardboard box. It also includes those who have nowhere to stay but reside temporarily with friends or have left home. There is a significant homeless population that does not come on the radar. Organisations such as Clúid, Threshold and Simon are playing an important part in getting these people who county councils cannot always assist into accommodation.

When I was a county councillor in Lifford, I was on record for praising the former Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Michael Finneran, for the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. It was much better for people to get accommodation under the scheme as it tended to be clean and new, as well as being monitored by the county councils. Senator Ó Domhnaill's colleagues on the council did not praise their own Minister but I did as he was concerned with the housing issue and did much good work on it. This is being continued by this Government.

Will the Minister of State clarify the position of the private-rented sector with the property tax which will replace the non-principal private residence charge? Many landlords have invested in their properties and we need to clarify their position on the tax. Many citizens will also be renting for the long term now too. In Switzerland, probably the most stable economy in the world, private home ownership has not gone beyond 38% in the past 60 years. Ireland is probably going in that direction. Many of our citizens under the age of 35 have no desire to own a property but wish to have a job and settle down.