I am speaking to my amendments Nos. 5 to 7, inclusive. We have very high rents as it is. They are unaffordable for many people and causing a huge amount of stress and anxiety. Dublin has the highest rents of any capital city in the European Union. Where does Dublin feature in the rankings for wages in European cities? It is 26th for wage levels, yet we have the highest rents in the EU. Across Ireland, rents are unaffordable, yet this Bill allows for rent increases of 2% through the rent pressure zone mechanism, whi…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, line 3, to delete “2 per cent” and substitute “0 per cent”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 5, lines 3 and 4, to delete “in respect of each year that has elapsed since the previous setting”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 5, line 7, to delete “2 per cent” and substitute “0 per cent”.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 6, line 5, to delete "his or her" and substitute "their". I propose to withdraw this amendment on the basis of the response given by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to a similar amendment I tabled to other recent legislation.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: "(3) The Minister shall, within 12 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas that— (a) Sets out proposals to strengthen the security of tenure including a review of the current grounds for termination, (b) Reviews effectiveness of the current rent pressure zone rules and provides recommendations for reform, and (c) Outlines proposals for a new accessible, readable and consolidated Residenti…

Briefly, I want to support these amendments. When this loophole in the legislation was raised in the summer, a number of us questioned it. I opposed it. Assurances were given at that time that the legislation was being done quickly and it needed to go through, but that this would be looked at again when a new Bill on the residential sector was being brought forward later in the year. This is that Bill on which we were given those assurances. The argument was put forward that tuition and accommodation is sometimes s…

I move amendment No. 13: In page 6, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(c) in section 24 by the insertion of the following subsection: “(24BB) With effect from the passage of this Act, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 24A, orders under subsection (5) of that section shall be deemed to have been made in respect of the administrative areas of all housing authorities and, accordingly, the entire State is deemed to be a rent pressure zone for a period of three years.”.”. Imperfect…

I move amendment No. 15: In page 6, line 22, after “paragraph (b)” to insert “and the deletion of paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Table to that section”. This is to improve tenants' security of tenure and limit the grounds for eviction. It recognises that where someone is renting is his or her home. The landlord has ownership and derives an income from it but it is the tenant's home. This amendment seeks to bring us in line with many other northern European countries that recognise that where someone is renting is his or…

I support these amendments. The importance of early consultation and engagement with communities can create a win-win situation, reduce conflict and, what is very important, get local knowledge into the outline pre-planning process. Very often, that local knowledge is not held by developers, the people working for them or planners. It is very important to get that in. Exactly as Deputy Boyd Barrett said, we are talking about large applications that have significant impacts. To get that local knowledge in early is v…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: "Amendment of section 28 (Ministerial guidelines) of Principal Act 3. Section 28 of Planning and Development Act 2000 is amended by the deletion of subsection (1C)." I have already made the points I wanted to make about the section 28 mandatory guidelines. In the interests of time, I am happy to move straight to the Minister's response.

Homelessness causes trauma. It uproots families from their communities, friends and support networks. All of us in this House, whether in opposition or in government, have a responsibility to work together to try to tackle homelessness. This is a very practical Bill which puts the focus exactly where it should be: on preventing homelessness. Whatever we can do to tackle homelessness is very worthwhile. It is highly beneficial to prevent the trauma of homelessness in the first place. There is cross-party support on …

I agree with Deputy Haughey about that report and how important it is. The average deposit a first-time buyer needs to buy a home stands at €52,500. This has doubled in less than a decade. The average age of a first-time buyer is rising steeply and rents have almost doubled in the last decade. According to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, "The construction of new rental homes ... is only viable for households with a gross annual income of at least €100,000.” Does the Taoiseach agree that the increas…

I was worried, coming in here, about the Government's entire approach to this and how out of touch it is with the problems faced by renters and the problems in the private rented sector. Having heard the self-congratulatory comments from the Government, as if this Bill is the answer to all the problems in the private rented sector, overselling a technical change in respect of the provisions on indefinite tenancies, I am much more worried. We have to start with an honest analysis of the problems, an honest acceptanc…

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the well-being of people living in emergency accommodation. Over the past year, I have been raising with him and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the conditions in privately run emergency accommodation. There is a complete lack of Garda vetting of staff, a lack of proper policies and procedures, a lack of safeguarding procedures and a lack of proper training of staff. There is a complete failure to implement or apply the national quality standards framework,…

I can provide the Taoiseach with the details. This is utterly unacceptable behaviour and complaints have gone in on this. People living in emergency accommodation deserve a proper response on this and that proper standards are implemented.

To follow up on the previous question, the issue around private emergency accommodation is that, taking Dublin as an example, approximately half of the accommodation is provided by tried and trusted not-for-profit partners of the local authorities, with the other half, in recent years, provided by privately run operators, some of which have no experience or qualifications whatsoever in this area. I raised a particular instance in respect of which complaints have gone in, but it is a systemic problem, with half of t…

First, I wish to say that there was very good engagement at committee level on this legislation. During that process we sought a number of written clarifications on a number of matters, which we were looking for in advance of Report Stage. It is regrettable that the commitments in written clarifications never came forward and we did not receive them. The previous speakers made some very good points. There is an urgent need for renewable wind energy and a marine planning framework. To facilitate that, and indeed oth…

Taking up Deputy Boyd Barrett's point, that is what is so important about this amendment. Our marine environment has huge value for the people working in it, huge economic potential and huge value in terms of its biodiversity, but its role in carbon capture and as a carbon sink also has an incredible value. It does not make any sense to do something to tackle climate change that will potentially damage that role. It is disappointing that the Minister of State suggested that we are calling for the national marine pl…

To follow up on that, I am particularly concerned that the sensitivity mapping will not be completed until the end of 2022 and about the difficulties that poses. Can that be completed faster? If it is not going to be completed faster, what interim protections and measures can be put in place? When we were engaged on this on Committee Stage, one of the first issues we discussed was the need for immediate sensitivity mapping because there were going to be delays in respect of the marine protected areas. It would be g…