Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is always lovely to follow Senator Garvey with the passion and commitment she has in her contributions. I echo everything she said, particularly on the motivations behind motions such as this. I always get the sense from contributions from the other side, particularly from Sinn Féin, that it is almost about trying to create a division between renters and home owners or renters and landlords. That is certainly not the case on the Government side.

I rented for a long time, for ten or 12 years, in Cork. I moved from three or four places. I had the experience of getting notice to get out within 28 days and the fear of trying to find somewhere for the exact same price when earning what would not be regarded as even a half decent salary, starting off just out of college. I understand it from both sides. I understand the fear of being a renter and feeling, especially in the last ten years, that it is almost impossible to get out of the rental market to purchase one's own home.It should be recognised that changes have been made in the past number of years by this and previous Governments. Some of the provisions brought forward have been opposed by Sinn Féin, such as the help to buy scheme, which is to essentially promote building of new properties. It would support a group of people who, over the past ten to 15 years, have really struggled to buy a new home and, more important, to save a deposit for a new home. The scheme has been very successful.

One of the biggest obstacles to owning one's home or having enough stock so everyone can have one is the building of houses. More houses need to be built and I am hopeful that next month the construction industry in the private sector will be back up and running. Currently we are losing approximately 800 houses per week. It does not matter if it is a private or social house as if there is one more house on the market, it can improve every section of that market. It is important that the building sector expands its planning applications as we do not want to get into a position after Covid-19 where planning applications have been in place for people to build but there has been no opportunity to start building and the process might have to start again. That would delay the process for everyone and would not be good for the housing market, the rental market or anything else.

If we are really talking about encouraging people to live in certain areas and have investment in housing, we must also invest in water. I could speak for a long time about how we need to invest in water but we do not have the time to discuss it tonight.

I listened to the contribution from Senator Gavan, who is right across the border from the all-Ireland champions. In fairness to him, even though only 27% of the country is not in a rent pressure zone, he still managed to find an example of a couple who had their rent increased from €1,200 to €1,400. That is not good. I know of certain similar cases in Tipperary as well. In fairness to the Senator, he has recognised that it is true to state that nobody can be evicted from their house during the Covid-19 pandemic. I presume that in the case he mentions the couple have been living in the home for more than a year as the rent could not change in the first year. They would have four months to look for a place after Covid-19. He suggests that somebody could be asked to move out within a month, which is a bit disingenuous. If people are in a place for more than three years, they would have 180 days, or close to six months, to move out. These changes were made and long before all this I was in a position where I only had 28 days to move out of my place. There is much talk from the Opposition trying to take ownership of the housing issue but it is not a true reflection of where we are.

I recognise the challenges for renters and I experienced them for a long time. I was in a position where I felt I would never be able to get out and I have family members who are currently in that same position. It is a challenge but to suggest that Sinn Féin has the solution to these problems when most of its ideas are fanciful-----