Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Senators behind this Bill. There are some flaws in it, which I will go through them. However, the Bill is a start and the Minister needs to address it. While there are elements of the Bill with which we agree in principle, the Bill is flawed. It is also poorly drafted and we believe it could be in breach of Standing Order 178. It is clear that it would have the effect of imposing or increasing a charge on the people. We believe that the Bill is defective legally and constitutionally. While it was unfortunate that the Labour Party decided in 2015 to delay the introduction of the 3% levy until 2019, the attempt to retrospectively apply this levy to properties would be a breach of fundamental citizens' rights.

There is a bit of confusion here. We have the Derelict Sites Act and the Derelict and Vacant Sites Bill. Local authorities have the power to do up a derelict site. The issue is the timescale, which is not addressed here. A derelict site or vacant or derelict property can be an eyesore. The biggest issue is antisocial behaviour, including the dumping of rubbish. The main issue the Minister is not addressing is the health and safety aspect. There are so many properties that have gone on fire or have been marked by antisocial behaviour. They are constantly being reported to local authorities but there is no legislation. Before Christmas, we were able to address the quick build of the 100 houses in respect of the bigger cities. Legislation needs to be introduced to address derelict and vacant sites so that local authorities can stop all this antisocial behaviour and address health and safety concerns. This really needs to be addressed and I am asking the Minister to deliver on that.

Census 2016 revealed the existence of almost 260,000 vacant properties homes. A total of 2,751 vacant units belonged to local authorities. This is unacceptable. In fairness to the Minister, I know he is addressing meetings and is saying that money is there but if he does not address those 2,751 vacant units belonging to local authorities, it defeats the purpose. I would really appreciate it if he would address this issue.

Fianna Fáil has proposed introducing the empty property grant scheme to encourage owners to lease properties to approved housing bodies or directly to local authorities. Similar schemes exist in the UK and have been very successful. I am asking the Minister to pilot such a scheme so that we can address this issue. Rural Ireland is not being addressed. I understand that we have a housing crisis in Dublin and the Minister has always been focused on it and on the bigger cities. However, vacant properties, the lack of local authority housing and lack of supply are also issues in rural Ireland. If the Minister could address vacant properties, which number nearly 3,000, all over country, it would mean that nearly 3,000 families would be taken off the local authority housing list. The Minister should try to sort out some sort of legislation so that these vacant properties are not left as eyesores. When two or three properties in a housing estate are boarded up, one cannot find out who owns those properties. One goes into the local authority but it does not know. The properties are either in NAMA or have been repossessed by the banks. The Minister needs to put a system in place so that the local authorities have the staff to make sure that every vacant property or site is registered so that if Senators, councillors, Deputies or members of the public want to find out who owns a house two doors down from them because it is an eyesore associated with antisocial behaviour, they can do so. At the moment, they cannot get these answers because nobody knows who owns these properties. On St. Patrick's Day, we all get ready for our parades. If there is a derelict site in the middle of a town that is an eyesore, it takes from the focus of the town when one is trying to bring in people. Could the Minister address these issues? These are the small things that he is forgetting. I know he is doing his best and that there are so much that he needs to address but he is definitely falling down on these issues in rural counties and other areas.

In respect of tenant security, the Bill proposes removing of the sale of the property as a reason for ending a tenancy where the property has been bought with a buy-to-let mortgage. There is no doubt that the blanket approach in the Bill of completely removing the right of a landlord with a buy-to-let mortgage to use the sale of the property as a ground for terminating a tenancy could be discriminatory and unconstitutional. Removing the right of the landlord to purchase his or her property with a buy-to-let mortgage would fall most heavily on small landlords with one or two properties. Many landlords have distressed mortgages. It would not touch landlords who can afford to buy an investment property without taking out a mortgage.In addition to creating widespread uncertainty in the rental market, completely getting rid of sale as a reason for ending tenancy, as the Bill attempts to do, could stall the turnover of rental properties owned by smaller landlords, many of whom are involuntary landlords who are not making a profit or are often in arrears or negative equity. Fianna Fáil supports in principle the removal of sale as a reason for ending a tenancy and we are working on measures that would provide greater security of occupancy for tenants which are compliant with the constitutional protection of property rights and do not create widespread market uncertainty.

Accountability is very important. Now that money is there, it is important that it is put to proper use for everybody, including the homeless, people in need, landlords and tenants, in particular those who might have to move. I ask the Minister to put the money to use and to ensure the most vulnerable in our society get what they deserve.