Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to amendments Nos. 3 and 4. Essentially, they propose that rent increases should be zero. Renters cannot take any more. Senator Sherlock mentioned the darker and more dysfunctional parts of the rental market, but even if a landlord is sticking to the rules, renters have had five years of 4% rent increases. It is not difficult to do the maths - five multiplied by four is 20, so if a landlord has applied the 4% increase each year, the tenants have had a 20% rent increase within the law. We know the reality for many renters is that rents have gone way beyond that because the landlord broke the rules or the tenant was too nervous to raise an issue or was moving into a new property. There have been five years of 4% rent increases.

The ship has sailed on any pretence that rent caps in rent pressure zones are effective in halting rising rents. They are not effective in that regard. Even if they were working, renters cannot take any more than the 20% that has been legally allowable. An increase of 20% in five years is too much. As for the 2% cap on rent increases, we in Sinn Féin believe that, just like the 4% cap, it will not work. It is too difficult to police and there are too many loopholes. As a policy, the rent pressure zone system does not work. It is broken and needs to be scrapped. Sinn Féin will forward an increasing number of amendments on later Stages of the Bill to deal with those problems. A total ban of rent increases across the State is the only way to stop rents rising any further for all new and existing tenancies.