Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-18 ============================================================ Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel Obviously, supply is important and I do not think any of us are saying it is not. The level of housing being built does not match the increase in population over the past several decades. The problem is that we have over-relied on the private sector. The private sector is important. The Social Democrats are not saying there is no role for the private sector to play in this space. When it comes to supply, it has to be more nuanced than just supply, supply, supply. We have to look at affordability. We have no evidence. Can the Minister of State tell us if he expects rents to come down in the next six, 12 or 18 months? If he is claiming rents will come down, which we do not believe, can he point to a period of time when he thinks they will? The Minister of State spoke about the six-year protections for renters. The reality is that the average rental time span is three and a half years. We would like something like a no-fault eviction ban, which is what would actually give renters protection, rather than the idea of six-year tenancies which does not reflect the reality. For example, students move around regularly and some face extortionate rents. This includes the challenge of what rent is because many people face additional charges, in particular for private student accommodation. One student told me it is becoming impossible to continuously afford rent and they have had to cut essential groceries each week which, it goes without saying, affects one's dignity. They went on to say that their parents have helped them with accommodation, but have been struggling big time as the rent is now more than the mortgage cost. That family may have multiple children around the same age at university at the same time. They are paying more in rent while still paying off their mortgage. It is excruciating for people. Last week, the Minister, Deputy Browne, said the Opposition is peddling misery. I wonder whether the Minister of State thinks we are lying or not reflecting the reality of the people who come to us with these concerns and are horrified by the real rent increases that the Bill will bring about. Does the Minister of State think we are peddling misery or reflecting legitimate views from people who are screaming out with concern that this is going to make their lives unaffordable? I would like to mention something I spoke about last week, when the Minister of State was not here for the debate. Women fleeing domestic violence are told to go and seek new accommodation. They are told to go to a refuge and, it is to be hoped, after that they can find a new place to live and rent. They will not come under the six-year tenant safety protection the Minister of State says the Bill will provide. They will be forced into market rent every single time they flee. That will lead to women staying in violent situations. I spoke about this in detail last week. That is what the outcome of this legislation will be. Women will choose between fleeing with their children or staying at home because they do not know where to live. They do not know whether they will have emergency accommodation for eight or ten months. There is very little evidence in the Bill on the protection of vulnerable groups, such as those who constantly cycle in and out of rental accommodation. Senator Andrews spoke about the high levels of rent across the country, but people are screaming out with fear and are terrified that the Bill will make their lives more unaffordable than they already are. It would be great to hear directly from the Minister of State about when he anticipates rents falling. Rents in the many expensive apartment buildings that have been built are totally out of reach for people. The Minister of State knows that we would love to have a State construction company and the Government building housing. We often hear that Fianna Fáil is the party of home building but we cannot keep dining out on a decades-old story because the reality is we do not have enough homes. Yes, building more accommodation and apartments is a positive thing but not if they are unaffordable and not if they are linked to market rents where the average person simply cannot not afford to live in them. --- 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/2026-02-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-18