Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion proposed by my colleague, Senator Aideen Hayden. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. While I will deal with some aspects of social housing I wish to make a few general points.

Currently there are more than 300,000 people living in private rented accommodation. This Government, unlike previous Governments, is tackling the problem and intends to tackle it for the remainder of its term of office. Government policy aims to provide short-term and long-term rental opportunities to citizens in an attractive way. It is true that the tradition for Irish people is to own their own homes. This probably goes back to colonial times and the fear of being put off the land or put out of the house. That is a historical fact. We are at odds with statistics in the European Union although we are catching up. In Europe, 80% of people rent and 20% of people own their homes. Our statistics are the other way around at 60:40. There is a recognition by many people in Ireland that due to economic circumstances they will end up renting on a long-term basis, therefore, we need to deal with the issues that surround the rental market. Some work has been done and I acknowledge the 2004 Act which put in place provisions on a four year tenancy and rent reviews. The 2012 Bill aims to establish protection for deposits and to deal with non-payment of rent. It also aims to extend the obligations on these issues to approved housing bodies. The Residential Tenancies Act provides that rents may only be reviewed once per year. However, rents have increased nationally between 2013 and 2014 by almost 6% and in Dublin by almost 10%. While tenants must be given 28 days notice and allowed an appeal to the Private Residential Tenancies Board the difficulty is that many tenants, particularly in rural areas, know very little about the private residential tenancies board and their rights and, therefore, on a daily basis, as politicians we are encountering people who are being denied their rights and are bullied and told they have to pay increased rents. As Senator Aideen Hayden has said some literally end up out on the street because they cannot afford the rent. They cannot seek rent subsidy as many are employed in what appears to be gainful employment but the bottom line is that they do not have the money for rent.

The Government is trying to improve the situation and is working towards reducing the number of people on waiting lists. The Government's social housing strategy aims to provide 35,000 social houses over six years and support 75,000 households to attain private rented accommodation, mainly through the housing assistance payment. In 2015 alone we will see 7,000 new social houses and almost 8,500 units secured through HAP, involving an investment of more than €800 million. I am glad the State will return to the central role of providing social housing.

I took note of the amendment tabled by Fianna Fáil which is basically a criticism of Government policy in the main. I look back to the time I was a public representative at local government level where year on year no house was built in County Tipperary by a Fianna Fáil-led Government. Suddenly, its amendment is a criticism of the efforts by this Government to address the 90,000 people it abandoned and allowed to go on housing lists across the State. I welcome amendments to motions but I do not welcome a naked criticism by people who did nothing about the problem when in charge of the ball for 14 years.

In 2014 the Government provided 6,000 units of social housing. Almost 6,000 houses have been identified by NAMA as of December 2014. It is a pity Fianna Fáil would not do some research. The reality is that 2,200 of those houses are in demand by local authorities. The houses are in areas where there is no demand by local authorities and, therefore, in many cases the houses are useless in dealing with the current housing crisis. The Government recognises the problems surrounding the private rental sector, as outlined so eloquently by Senator Aideen Hayden. It also recognises the need to come centre stage in terms of the provision of social housing. That is what the Government is going to do - 7,000 new units are being provided in 2015 and 8,500 units are being provided through HAP, an investment of €800 million. If Fianna Fáil can match that from its historical experience for people who need housing I will accept and support its amendment.