Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the commitment by the Minister, Deputy Kelly, over the weekend that he intends to move to regulate rent increases in the private rented sector. This is an issue that has achieved support from all sides of this House, not least because one in five families in our country and one in three in this area alone are living in rented housing and have been subjected to scandalous increases in rents. However, an immediate problem has arisen. It has been brought to my attention that there are fears that landlords will start to increase rents in advance of regulations being introduced. We have law that limits landlords in increasing rents to once a year and then they are limited in the extent to which they can raise it. I ask the Leader to bring to the Minister's attention an immediate problem, as I will, namely, that we need to have a vigorous education campaign for tenants now in the next week to educate them to say that they do not have to accept rent increases and that they can and should challenge them. In my capacity as the chair of a voluntary organisation dealing with the rented sector, I can say that I will commit my organisation to taking cases on behalf of any tenant who gets those types of rent increases in advance of legislation being introduced.

I ask that Leader request the Minister, Deputy Kelly, or the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, to come into the House to discuss with us further what type of regulation the Minister intends to introduce, and for him to listen to the views of Members of this House whom I know have much experience in this area.