I thank all the Deputies who submitted amendments to this Bill. I have to agree it is a terrible Bill. The Minister said he is solving the housing crisis. I do not think anyone buys that. I do not think anyone out there buys that. I do not think the electorate buys that at all. The Minister and the Government are failing, like every Government before it. I find it scurrilous that he would accuse Opposition TDs, when they are giving scrutiny to a Bill he has introduced, by saying it is spaghetti words or that they are looking for social media clips. That is disgraceful and the Minister should withdraw that comment. I rise today to speak for renters, who, although they make up 30% of the population, are seldom heard in this House or in our public conversation. I am a renter. I have rented my entire adult life. I want to be clear that I have only ever had good landlords, people who were kind, efficient, kept good homes and were fair. However, my story is not representative. There are too many stories to count in my constituency and among my generation of unscrupulous actors in the rental sector who have exploited those without homes for their own greed. I will quote some of those who are renting in my constituency. On the question of security for tenants, one constituent said to me: There is very little security for renters and the laws meant to protect tenants do not seem to be enforced in reality, [which is a real question for this Bill]. There is no long-term certainty for tenants even though generations of families rent long term. If tenants can simply be asked to leave after five or six years, people are left worse off every single time. Another constituent who works in the public sector is in her middle years and has recently been evicted. She noted the reasons: The reason behind my eviction is obvious. Our current rent is too low, €1,100. I think what makes the whole scenario even more ironic is that the result of my work in the public sector is in fact extremely beneficial for the Government and the country. While I am finding companies that are non-compliant regarding their tax matters and getting them to pay what they must to the Exchequer, I am being let down by the State and I do not think there is any exaggeration in saying that. A third constituent said the following about being evicted from a tenancy only to find the place relet at nearly three times the rent. I lived in an apartment in Sandymount for six years. I moved in in August 2019. Last January, we received notice that the owner was selling the building and we would be issued with termination letters, which arrived a few months later. These also stated the building was being sold and that the tenancy termination date was 10 December 2025. Yesterday, my former housemates and I received notice that our old apartment was being rented again and the rent was going from €1,480 to €4,400 per month. I have also received a considerable number of emails from constituent tenants concerned about the cost of renting in Dublin and in my constituency. One simply said there is nowhere to live, no matter how much you earn. Another, not far from here, described the townhouse he lives in as having "five rooms, nine so-called licensees living in it, including me and my roommate who are sharing a twin bedroom paying more than €650 per person per month with no bills included". Most critically, a refrain I hear from constituents - and this is important because these are people who would consider voting for Fianna Fáil, but will not - including homeowners, tenants and even some small landlords, is that they ask the Government to please stop letting vulture funds and investment companies buy houses and apartments. I listened yesterday in this Chamber as the Tánaiste and leader of Fine Gael defended that practice still occurring despite the overwhelming public opposition. The Bill was only introduced to the House last week and is being rushed through this week at the last minute and I kind of wonder why. About 18 years ago, I was in college. I was renting a room for approximately €100 per week, which at the time was expensive. It was a nice place and I had a very nice landlord. It was September 2008. I distinctly remember hearing about another rush by the Government of the day to pass laws that would change the face of this country. I am, of course, talking about the bank guarantee, which plunged the country's finances into total ruin in an effort to appease international markets and international investors and bondholders. Here I stand now, many years later, a Member of this House, and I cannot help but think back to that act of the Government, an act of Fianna Fáil like this one, and notice the similarities. History, unfortunately, seems to be repeating itself. Instead of assuaging the thirst of international financial capital by putting the Government's fiscal position on the line, Fianna Fáil is now proposing to offer them the entire renting population of Ireland, including every young person starting out, every divorcee who had to move out, every foreign multinational worker who came here for a good job and finds a disproportionate amount of their income going to landlords, and every older person who for one reason or another does not own their home. The rush of this legislation, with the guillotine in mere hours from now, reminds me of that bank guarantee. Why is it that the great urgency of Fianna Fáil is always to pass legislation, enact law or make guarantees for international capital, but not for others? Where is the urgency for the emergency winter payment for people with disabilities? Where is the urgency to build offshore wind farms to bring down electricity prices? Where is the urgency for the needs of people and their children who are in poverty, while that poverty increases? Where is the urgency to actually build the homes? Why is that urgency only ever applied for international capital? There was a great opportunity in the renewed vigour of the Government to pass legislation this year, after one of the worst ever years for the passing of legislation. I welcome it, but it is not this. It is not a Bill to accelerate some of the highest rents in Europe in one of the countries with the highest concentration of institutional international capital landlords anywhere in the world. We saw what happened to the country the last time Fianna Fáil gave rushed gifts to foreign financial investors. In case the Minister has forgotten, it did not end well, for the country or his party. I fear the same will happen again as a result of this Bill and the Government will have sacrificed another generation on its altar of greed.

Sentiment score: 0.01