Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, has gone into the detail of the Bill and the reasons for it. I am keen to discuss it in terms of the context of the politics we have. I was struck by a phrase in the Dáil yesterday echoed by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies. The phrase was that the centre must hold. This has been the subject of considerable comment through the course of the past 24 hours. It got me thinking. What do we mean when we talk about the centre? What do we mean by the centre of politics? I take it to mean reasonable moderate inclusive politics. It strikes me that there was little of any of that in yesterday's budget. The budget has been described by Peter McVerry as a landlord's charter. I imagine everyone in the Chamber would respect the views of a man such as Fr. Peter McVerry. When it comes to housing and homelessness he is recognised as an expert.

There is something rather strange about this State. Let us consider how rents and housing are organised throughout most of mainstream western Europe. We find that having rules for rents is the norm, as is having rules around rent certainty. Having rental properties that are not subject to the extremes of boom and bust is the norm. The reason for this is because it is a regulated sector in these countries. The political consensus in the centre has it that this is something we do to protect people. It is strange that this consensus of the centre has never existed in this State. It is strange that parties which claim to be of the centre have always, regrettably, taken the side of the landlords in this State. It is a poor reflection on parties that claim to be of the centre. Whenever anything is challenged in terms of the status of landowners, they always fall by the wayside and allow the status quoto continue. Why should we not have rent certainty? Why are the people of this country not entitled to rent certainty? Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael claim to be parties of the centre, but when it comes to crunch issues like challenging the status quoin respect of property, they constantly disappear or sneak away. Why is that?

Having read the Government amendment to today's Bill, there are no surprises for me. Basically, those on the Government side are suggesting that we kick the can down the road and not deal with this today, but that we might look at it again in a few months' time. That seems to be the over-riding mantra of this Government in respect of any issue of substance. The view is that we should not deal with it today or take a decision that would be in the interests of all the people, because that might hurt some of the people they like to protect. It is no coincidence that the people who produced the budget yesterday with absolutely no measures to redistribute wealth from those who have it to those who have not are the same people who are going to sit in the Chamber today and essentially make the case that it is a nice idea and they like it - in fact, in the case of Fianna Fáil it is in the party manifesto - but they have no wish to deal with it now. I appeal in particular to our colleagues in Fianna Fáil.I recognise that some good points have been made in relation to housing, particularly by Senator Murnane O'Connor in recent months. I appeal to Fianna Fáil to take a second look at this Bill and think of the people in their own areas, those who have had rent hikes of €300 and €400 a time, those who are crying out for some kind of decent regulation and find that Government after Government has turned a blind eye to it. I ask them to think about it. To be clear, if they do not support this moderate reasonable Bill today, the message will go out that Fianna Fáil has once again rejected rent certainty and I would have to believe that at least some Members on the Fianna Fáil side cannot be comfortable with that notion. We had a wonderful moment last week in the Dáil where we got behind a Bill that had all the right sentiments regarding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. In fairness, we saw the Fianna Fáil Party listen on that occasion, it abstained and we managed to send a strong message in relation to CETA. I am asking our colleagues in Fianna Fáil to look again today in relation to rent certainty. It is an issue that affects hundreds of thousands of people in our State. We know, because the facts are out there, that rent hikes have been absolutely outrageous.

It is not only a Dublin issue. We know that rents in Dublin are astronomical, but where I live, in Limerick, colleagues of mine are facing rent hikes of €300 and €400 when their review comes up. The bottom line is this. We can either do something about it - this is what this Bill is designed to do - or we can blow hot air and say, "If only", or "We agree with you but", and effectively do nothing. I would ask a simple question. Is that the best that our people deserve? Is that the best that this Chamber can do? Last week we showed that we can do better than that. This week, I believe, with genuine goodwill on all sides, we should be able to do better than that. If they cannot do better than that, then the message will go out loud and clear that Fianna Fáil has backed the Government in refusing rent certainty. On the back of a day yesterday when, unfortunately, Fianna Fáil was at one with Fine Gael, it will do Fianna Fáil no good to find itself in the same corner again.

As I say, I am aware there are genuine concerns on the Fianna Fáil benches in relation to this issue. They should have the courage to stand up and do what is right, not for us - I would not expect that - but for those in rented accommodation. We can talk about it, we can ramble on about it or we can take this opportunity here in this Chamber to do something. We can make the Seanad relevant again, as it was last week. We have choices, let us make the right decisions.