Victor Boyhan (Independent)

The kernel of this matter is simple: all tenants in this country, regardless of whether they are renting in the private or public sector, should be treated the same. I am making that case. As the Minister of State rightly indicated and as I already told him, the report of the Housing Commission contains strong recommendations to the effect that the residential tenancy legislation should be extended to cover local authority tenants and their relationships. That is a reasonable and fair request. I do not think you can tolerate or allow two arrangements of protections for tenants to run in tandem. All tenants are tenants. We want to encourage tenants to be good tenants. We also want landlords to be compliant with the law. I do not think it is tenable to suggest that the Minister for housing is currently satisfied. It is me who is not satisfied. I tabled this matter because I spoke to hundreds of councillors, including many in the Minister's party, who say they are constantly being asked to lobby in respect basic needs and health and safety issues around tenancies in local authority social housing, a matter that comes under the Department's remit.

What is my ask? I will close on this. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the officials in the Department to see if we can consider extending the legislation to include social tenants and give them the same rights as private tenants.