Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming into the House again. As he said, he has probably been in here as often as most Senators while initiating this legislation. I broadly welcome the move by the Minister to cap rent increases at 2%. It is an especially welcome response in the context of the rate of inflation having hit 5.1% in October, which was the highest recorded since 2007. When he brought in the measure to link increases to the consumer price index, CPI, the Minister said he would come back into the House if inflation rose and became an issue. I am glad to see he kept his word in that regard.

In the context of the current rental crisis, however, I do not think this is enough. We need a rent freeze similar to the one we had for two years in 2015, which was constitutional and implemented by the then Minister, Deputy Kelly. The RTB and Daft.ie recently released reports showing that rent inflation has increased to more than 7% nationally, with particularly worrying trends outside of urban areas. According to the RTB report, rents were up 17.3% in Leitrim, 15.5% in Kilkenny and 16.1% in Clare. Meanwhile, the report from Daft.ie showed that rents were up 21.4% in Leitrim, 20.4% in Roscommon and 20.1% in Mayo. Different methodologies were used, but the trends are clear: we are in a period of high rental cost inflation. Nowhere in the country has rent not at least doubled since it bottomed out in 2013.

This brings me to my next point regarding the change being made by the Minister. While this move and linking it to the CPI is a good long-term intervention, we also need short-term action because rents are getting so out of control. We must declare the whole country an RPZ. We must also have a rent freeze, similar to what we had in 2015, for three years. While I accept what Senator Cummins said regarding the possibility of unintended consequences resulting from rent freezes, that is not necessarily true in respect of a short-term rent freeze. It is only the case over a longer time.

Equally, we must properly resource the RTB to take proactive enforcement measures in this regard. Indeed, sanctions were only imposed on 29 landlords last year for contravening rent pressure zones. It is clear from the figures being reported that there is non-compliance with the rent inflation caps. This is caused by the lack of balance between renters and landlords. The problem is partially with supply, but security of tenure is also a factor. The move in respect of tenancies of indefinite duration is again welcome, but it is not good enough.

Families are continuing to enter homelessness every month and primarily from the private rental sector. Last month, some 2,344 children were living in emergency accommodation. This week, we mark UN World Children's Day on 20 November and we must take action to address homeless children and families. Legislation introduced by former Deputy Jan O'Sullivan in the previous Dáil sought to ensure that the best interest of the child was among the issues to be considered by local authorities when responding to homeless families. At the time, all parties, including that of the Minister, agreed to do so. The legislation, however, has fallen off the agenda. The Labour Party intends to push this legislation again since the eviction ban has been ended. While we are still in the middle of a pandemic and restrictions are fluid and, potentially, may be reimposed, the sole cause of the increase in childhood and family homelessness is the ending of the eviction ban and the private rental sector and security of tenancies returning to normal.

The Minister and his Government colleagues talk about how they have introduced a cost rental scheme. Only 2,000 such units have been completed, however, of a proposed 18,000. I have heard worrying reports of signs that the progress that we were hoping for is not enough. On the site at the Oscar Traynor Road, there seems to be a desire to deliver cost-rental housing by buying it back at the market price from a private developer who built it on State land. Those units will be sold at market price to an AHB. Investors cannot deliver affordable rents in cost-rental developments. Only State intervention by organisations such as the Land Development Agency, LDA - the Labour Party constructively engaged with the relevant legislation regarding its establishment when it came through this House - can and will do that. That is what should be used to achieve the desired outcome in the context of this site. In a local context, concerning my area of Inchicore, I met with residents last week who are concerned about cost rental in the St. Michael's Estate project. The design team there is working away without any indication of what the cost and the rents will be, what the size of the European Investment Bank loan will be, who will own and operate the scheme and how long it will remain cost rental.

In the context of a market with unprecedented scarcity, I am also reiterating the Labour Party's call for the Government to increase renters' rights and put some power back in their hands. Specifically, I am referring to security of tenancy. As part of this, the Government should also ask that the build-to-rent standard be reviewed, including the provision of balconies and facilities for more long-term living within rental accommodation. Building poor-quality housing does not allow for people to live there in the long term and we must empower renters to make them feel like their house is a home.

We must tackle the affordability crisis and change how we think about renting in this country. We will be voting in favour of this Bill on Second Stage, but it does not go far enough. We will seek to amend it, including with proposals to insert provisions for a rent freeze and the declaring of the whole country as an RPZ in light of the reports from the RTB and Daft.ie. I hope the Minister will choose to take real action and that he will co-operate with the Opposition on measures to try to address this crisis of inflation in rental costs by accepting these amendments. I ask that because we have been working constructively with the Government on several Bills that have come through the House on this issue.