Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-19
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

What the Minister is saying is so insulting. There is more to the Opposition than Sinn Féin. As a party, we have tabled 69 amendments to the Bill. The Minister is saying that we are not providing any constructive criticism. The Labour Party has been in government. We have a very good track record of building houses in this country. I cannot say the same, unfortunately, about Fianna Fáil, particularly if the Minister wants to go down the route of talking about the building of social housing being halted.
The Minister referred to the Residential Tenancies Board as if it is big to brag that there has been a 70% increase there. It was coming from a really low base. The Residential Tenancies Act has been amended more than 14 times. That is once every 18 months. There is talk about housing tsars. The Minister is saying that those in opposition are not being constructive and that he is accountable. If he is going to be accountable, why would he not accept the amendment tabled by my colleague Deputy Sheehan to insert a provision whereby the Minister would be required, within two years, to conduct a review into the operation of the effectiveness of the amendments made in the Bill, with the findings and conclusions to be laid before the House in the interests of accountability. As an elected representative, I cannot keep up with the changes that are happening to the Bill all of the time.
The Minister spoke about the role of councillors. He is blaming officials in local government. I worked as a councillor. The main issue is with representations from people getting notices to quit. Maybe the Minister should think about funding local authorities in the context of housing stock they have. They are not able to keep up with the repairs because they have no staff. There is deliberate underfunding of local government, particularly in the context of housing repairs. This has come up over and over again. I send representations to my local county council in Sligo. It is not able to keep up with maintaining the housing stock it has. It is so disingenuous of the Minister to blame officials in county councils for this and to say that they need to be held accountable for it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19