Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Minister of State for not being present for his contribution. I was attending a meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government at which the Fianna Fáil Bill to refurbish vacant housing stock was being considered. It is a really welcome Bill. We are all aware of empty units above retail premises in our towns, cities and villages that could be used as housing stock.

I and my colleagues in the Seanad Civil Engagement group brought forward the Derelict and Vacant Sites Bill 2017 almost a year ago. The aim of the latter was to bring the significant amount of unused land and derelict sites back into circulation by the introduction of a 6% levy, which was higher than one suggested by the then Government. The Bill was rejected by the former Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, on grounds of constitutional protection of private property. Since then, thankfully, the Government has increased the levy to a maximum of 7%. I was very happy to see the Government change its mind on this matter. Essentially, it is now a case of use it or lose it. If a potential charge is put on the vacant site then people are certainly going to start using it.

We have seen the Government and the Minister of State's party's compromise on its insistence that capping rent was an impossibility. The creation of a 4% cap in rent rises in rent pressure zones is a welcome recognition that the rights of landlords cannot be the only consideration in our approach to housing.

The Green Party will soon introduce the Living Cities Bill in the Dáil. That legislation proposes a comprehensive approach to ending dereliction and waste on our city streets. I hope that the Government will be able to greet such a move more openly than they did last year.

The other issue I would like to discuss is the conditions currently facing those renting in Ireland. This week alone, we have heard two horror stories in Dublin. The first was the shocking and illegal eviction of tenants on Mountjoy Square. They were victims, seemingly, of their landlord’s ire after he failed to impose an illegal rent increase above the 4% last year, and on which the Residential Tenancies Board found against the landlord. Most of the affected tenants are from abroad, guests in our country, who have come here to live, work, study, share their experience and make a home. Instead they have been met with greed, criminality and brute force.

A story in TheIrish Timestodayhighlights the shockingly substandard and overpriced accommodation on offer to those who are priced out of even the cheapest offers on daft.ieand other websites. This morning, Senators Swanick and Higgins mentioned the legacy of Michael Davitt, the founder of the Irish National Land League, whose work seems sadly unfinished in today’s Ireland. We still have as much need as ever for the first two of his "three Fs" - fair rent and fixity of tenure. I have added an alternative third F, namely, favourable accommodation. This is the right to live in a space that is suited to people’s needs and is respectful of their dignity.

We have heard again about the gradual progress of Rebuilding Ireland.That is to be welcomed but what is required is a far more radical approach to housing that recognises it as a right, not an investment opportunity only.