Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill 2020: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2020-07-31 ============================================================ Malcolm Byrne (FF), Cultural and Educational Panel I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to this House and formally congratulate him on his appointment. I support the Bill because of how it is going to further protect tenants. I wish to respond to a couple of the issues that were raised. I strongly agree with my colleague, Senator Ward, when it comes to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. We do not have a Department of local government in Ireland, we have a Department of centralising government. In the coming years, we must ensure that powers, in particular with regard to housing, are devolved to local authorities so that they are in a position to fulfil that very crucial function. I also agree with what Senator Ward said about a review of the Valuation Act, although I would go a lot further. This is something we need to look at. We need to consider abolishing the commercial rates model as a way of funding local government entirely. It dates back to the era of King George IV. It is a completely anachronistic model for funding local government. I would be even more radical than Senator Ward in terms of what he proposes. Building supply is crucial. I agree with what Senators Fitzpatrick and Higgins said about the importance of getting local authorities back to building local authority homes but I am a little nervous about them buying because what we have often seen is that when local authorities look to buy homes, in some cases it distorts the market and it is often first-time buyers who lose out. I would prefer to see an emphasis on local authorities building. I will address some of the specific concerns about the implementation of this legislation. It should be ensured that there are sufficient staffing levels in the Residential Tenancies Board and the local authorities so that people will be on hand to answer questions about these regulations and to help people go through the process. It is all very well having the necessary protections in place but if we do not have the staff in the RTB or the local authorities, we will have a problem. I would like assurances from the Minister of State in that regard. In response to issues others have raised, there should be an information campaign in simple English and a number of other languages so that the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords under this legislation are clear. The crucial point which a number of speakers, including my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, have raised is that the biggest challenge in this area relates to supply. We have to start building again. The lack of supply has driven up rental costs, which has made it more difficult to rent. It has also given rise to the increase in homelessness which is, as Senator Murphy said, a blight on our society. These high rents have meant that tens of thousands have been excluded from aspiring to own their own home. In my hometown of Gorey, it costs approximately €1,200 a month to rent a three-bedroom house if one can find one. The housing assistance payment, HAP, comes nowhere near meeting that cost. For many individuals and couples, a mortgage would cost a lot less. We must ensure that the rent those individuals and couples have paid is considered when they apply for a mortgage. The appointment of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will make a real difference. This comes back to a crucial point. A number of people have criticised Fianna Fáil but this is what differentiates Fianna Fáil from other parties. I disagree with Senator Conway's earlier comments in praise of the approach of the former Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. The difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is that Fine Gael believes in a market-led approach. We support free enterprise and understand the construction industry and its workers but, where the market fails, the State has to intervene. The State must intervene in order to ensure supply. We are also different from those in Sinn Féin and on the hard left who do not believe in the right of individuals to aspire to own their own home. We support the idea that individuals or couples should have the right to build or buy their own home. Senator Boyhan might reflect on the market-led approach to issues adopted by his former party, the Progressive Democrats. This approach has failed in the area of housing. I welcome this Bill. It provides sufficient short-term protections but it must be remembered that it is not a silver bullet. The real solution to the housing crisis is to increase supply. The test of the success of the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, over the coming years will be the number of social and, in particular, affordable houses they build. They should get to it. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2020-07-31/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:31+00:00 Sitting date: 2020-07-31