Pauline Tully
Cultural and Educational Panel · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I acknowledge that there have been huge improvements on what is available for women, compared with a few years ago when there was nothing, but still far too often conditions affecting women are seen as a specialty or mystery when there is a range of supports and advice that women could receive through primary and community care services.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Seanad. I welcome the Bill. We will be fully supporting it. It makes sense. It will reduce barriers for women and make access to contraception easier, which is always going to be welcome. It will also ease pressure on primary care.”
“We need to look at a better public transport system, especially looking after our older people in isolated communities. Even to support our rural pub, we need to look at some sort of incentive for a taxi service that is affordable for people, so we can maintain our rural pubs and look after our older people.”
“Community and voluntary services on the ground, which are vital for providing supports and services to many sectors of the community, including older people and younger people, are not seeing sufficient funding to help them to keep running, to recruit and retain staff within the youth sector, for example, to maintain buildings if they hav…”
“The motion that we have put forward is very broad and covers many aspects that affect us in rural life. I too am astounded by the amendment tabled by the Government because it does not call for anything, which gives the impression that everything that is needed is there, yet many colleagues across the room here ask for more gardaí in thei…”
“Sláintecare is being rolled out too slowly, so we need to see proper resourcing of community healthcare. It avoids people ending up in acute healthcare settings, which are overcrowded. I see a dangerous trend where many people are being referred from areas such as Cavan and Monaghan to Dublin for acute care.”
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“Very frequently, women in Cavan, who have been abused by a partner have reported this. While the perpetrator is wanted by the Garda, they will make a very quick exit out of the State across the Border. Suddenly, they cannot be touched by the Garda, yet they are near enough to come back and cause fear for that woman and cause harm if they so choose. I want to see greater co-operation and collaboration between the police forces, the PSNI and An Garda Síochána, on these issues but also on the provision of services and supports for women. There is a refuge in Fermanagh. If there are places in that refuge and there are women in Cavan and Monaghan who need it, why should they not get help in Fermanagh and vice versa ? We need to work together. I know there is good collaboration between Women's Aid here and the Women's Aid Federation in NI.”
“There is no refuge for victims of domestic violence in Cavan and Monaghan. I am glad to say progress is being made. I was a bit concerned by an announcement made by the justice Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, a number of months back when he talked about a refuge for Cavan-Monaghan based in Monaghan. We really want to see a refuge in each county. While a site has been identified in Monaghan and progress is being made on a purpose-built unit, which will still take a couple of years, both Cavan and Monaghan county councils are working very hard to identify a place in each county. I would like an assurance that funding will be available through Cuan to provide a refuge in Cavan as well. Living in a Border county, I am very aware that an all-island approach should be taken to this issue.”
“We know that 35% of women in Ireland, which is more than one in three, have experienced psychological, physical and-or sexual abuse from an intimate partner. We know that between 1996 and November last, 277 women died in Ireland violently. Since 2020, 28 women have died in the North. In both cases, the majority of those were killed by a former or current partner, many of them in their own home and certainly by people they knew. I think only one of the 20 women killed in the North was killed by a woman; all the rest were killed by men or men are being charged in connection with their deaths. A sobering thought is that every day 140 women and girls are killed worldwide by an intimate partner or other members of the family. I come from one of the counties, Cavan, that still does not have a refuge space.”
“Ar dtús, is mian liom Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona a ghuí ar gach bean in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. I wish all women here in the Seanad and in the Dáil, all the female staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas and women all over the country a very happy International Women's Day. Some of the previous speakers have highlighted many positives that have happened and many progressive developments that have occurred. Today, I highlight the continuing high incidence of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Unfortunately, while there might be increased awareness of the issue, not enough is happening to change the behaviour of people, particularly men. I know men can be subjected to domestic violence, but the majority of victims are women. The statistics on this are quite stark.”
“He has no option but to pay it because if he does not, he will be charged for storage until he gets the money together and pays it. He will pay it and I think there may be some sort of an appeal process, but he is not happy to rely on that and feels it is an issue that should be highlighted and have something done to address it. It is a cost that young people returning here should not have to pay.”
“He had bought tools over there because they were not provided by the employer - some of them were new, some were second-hand - and decided to bring them home because if he had gone to sell them before he left, he would have got very little for them. He has been hit with a customs bill of €2,000. Can the Minister not look at some sort of incentive so that this does not happen to people who are returning here and bringing the tools of their trade home, not to sell on, but to use in this country? Other governments will advertise here for Irish people to go abroad and all sorts of incentives will be offered, such as free travel and so forth. Irish people who are returning pay for their travel and that is fine, but he has been hit with a bill of €2,000.”
“I am a member of the committee on further and higher education. Last week, we published a report on apprenticeships that looked at how to improve apprenticeships for young people but also how to improve it for everyone involved. Part of that was how to encourage them not to go abroad or encourage those already abroad to come back and work here in Ireland. Quite a lot of money has been spent on adverts by the Government abroad encouraging Irish people to come back to Ireland to work. I was talking to one young man who had qualified as a mechanic, went to Australia to work for 18 months and decided to return home.”
“They can discuss what is real and not real in a safe space. I would advocate for much more investment in physical youth spaces to address these issues.”
“We have to do something to enforce safety by design. We know children's overuse of online platforms is dangerous, as is their being subjected to unsavoury content. However, sometimes the use of online platforms is beneficial. During Covid, I was very thankful that my children could engage with their friends through playing games online. They could not see them because they were not allowed to mix or go to school. It was a way for them to stay in contact with people so it was beneficial at that time. We also need to invest in physical youth spaces for young people to meet others who may not be part of a sports, drama or other organisation. They can go somewhere safe and talk to an adult who is not a parent, with whom they might feel more comfortable discussing unsavoury content or illicit images they have seen online.”
“I ask that it go to Committee Stage as quickly as possible and that it proceed to amend the Act and be written into law. Ireland's AI advisory council has recommended the creation of a specific offence of creation or generation of AI deepfakes. The ban on under-16s using social media that was introduced in Australia is a blunt tool. It might seem easy to do that but social media does not extend to gaming, educational tech or wider digital ecosystems. There are ways in which children can be abused online or subjected to unsavoury content other than on social media. Before introducing a ban, we should consider everything. We need to talk to young people and organisations representing them, to parents and to the tech companies. The tech companies have operated for decades without meaningful child safety regulation.”
“It criminalises the non-consensual recording or distribution of intimate images, but there is a lack of certainty over whether the Act covers the generation or creation of intimate images. It does not clearly state that the generation of a deepfake sexual image of an adult is illegal. My colleagues Deputies Devine and Carthy introduced a Bill to the Dáil recently to amend Coco's Law. They want to make three straightforward changes: to explicitly criminalise the non-consensual creation or generation of intimate images and videos through the use of AI, to extend the statute of limitations from two to five years for some summary offences and to increase the maximum penalties upon conviction. I welcome the fact that was not opposed by the Government.”
“They are being used to generate images that are child sexual abuse material and deepfake naked images of people online. We ask ourselves why these features exist in the first place, especially in relation to children. It is just horrific. A lot more needs to be done about the companies because they have got away with decades of not being regulated. There needs to be strict regulation and strict procedures for dealing with this information. We have to recognise that non-consensual AI nude deepfakes are a form of digital domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and this is what they need to be called out as. There is a loophole in existing Irish law which criminalises the distribution of non-consensual intimate images, including deepfakes, but not their creation. Coco's Law was introduced in 2020 and we are all familiar with it.”
“There are many malicious users who misuse and manipulate the tools they find online. There are many dangers with AI. We can see a possible loss of jobs in certain areas, privacy risks, copyright infringements and the spread of misinformation, which is a big issue. We have all suffered abuse online. If many people were to use their own names, they would not put their comments online because if we met them on the street they would not say it to our face. We wonder how many of the accounts are real. We hear about bots. If we had properly verified accounts for every user, it would cut out an awful lot of the misinformation and abuse online. Recently there has been a lot of talk about the generation of illegal material through AI tools such as X's Grok and other platforms with similar tools.”
“I welcome the motion for the most part. There is nothing I can disagree with bar that Ireland has a robust online safety framework. We have an online safety framework but I am afraid it is not robust enough and it does not keep up with ever-changing technology, which is a concern. We all know that access to the Internet and the use of AI has many benefits and positives. It can be beneficial for businesses and individuals, and we can see how public services and innovation can be improved. We have heard about enhanced health care, diagnosis, drug discoveries, improved productivity and creativity and dealing with repetitive tasks. There are many positives but it is not a force for good. The concept and the technology can be used in whatever way the user intends. It needs to be regulated and this is important.”
“The farmers are angry, but the public are angry as well. They do not want to see him remaining as chair. Recent polls have indicated that. As was said at the meeting last night, there is no wrong time to do the right thing. It is time for the Minister to do the right thing now without delay by backing down on his support for Larry Murrin - for whatever reason, he is so steadfast in supporting him - and by ensuring that the five people who are sitting in Bord Bia headquarters can go home, do their farming and see their families.”
“I raise the meeting that took place in Cavan last night, which was organised by the IFA. There were hundreds of people in that room from counties Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Meath, Westmeath, Donegal and all around the whole region. They are very angry, but they are also very steadfast. They are not backing down on this issue. The Minister needs to reconsider his decision to continue to back Larry Murrin as chair of Bord Bia. The actions of the chair of a board which guarantees quality-assured Irish produce in admitting to importing Brazilian beef, when we know it does not meet the same standards of Irish produce, are hypocritical to say the least. It is undermining the role of Bord Bia and everything it stands for in giving an assurance that what a person is buying is of good quality. Nobody wants to see that.”
“Tá grúpaí pobail ag iarraidh cuidiú leis an bpobal seo ach tá siad go mór thíos leis ó thaobh airgid. Maidir le hoideachas, tá cruachás mór sa chóras oideachais ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Is cuma leis an Roinn agus leis an Rialtas seo faoi fhás sa chóras Gaelscolaíochta. Mar shampla, i gContae an Chabháin, níl ach bunscoil lánGhaeilge amháin againn. Tá grúpaí agus tuismitheoirí ag iarraidh an dara Gaelscoil a bhunú. Tá ár gcomhairleoirí Shinn Féin sa Chabháin ag troid go mór ar a shon seo ach tá an Roinn ag rá leo nach bhfuil cead nó dóchas mar gheall ar dhéimeagrafaic. Ba cheart go mbeadh seans ag gach duine i gContae an Chabháin freastal ar Ghaelscoil. Déanaim comhghairdeas agus gabhaim buíochas le Conradh na Gaeilge agus le gach grúpa ar an talamh atá ag déanamh obair iontach le haghaidh Sheachtain na Gaeilge.”
“Cuireann Sinn Féin agus mé féin fáilte roimh an maoiniú méadaithe don Ghaeilge agus don Ghaeltacht sa bhuiséad, ach ní leor é agus tá a fhios ag an Rialtas nach leor é. Is trua freisin go raibh ar phobal na Gaeltachta a bheith ag troid go dian ar feadh na mblianta chun an t-ardú beag seo a bhaint amach. Tá an earnáil Gaeilge go mór thíos leis go stairiúil. Is iad na grúpaí ar an talamh atá ag déanamh na hoibre ar son na Gaeilge. Is gá dóibh gach tacaíocht a fháil. I mo chontae féin, tá obair iontach ar siúl go deonach ag grúpaí pobail. Mar shampla, tá grúpa nua curtha ar bun, Gaelphobal an Chabháin. Bhí lainseáil mhór aige an tseachtain seo, roimh Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Tá suim mhór sa Ghaeilge i gContae an Chabháin. Tá daoine ag iarraidh an seans an Ghaeilge a labhairt.”
“Agus Seachtain na Gaeltachta ag teacht suas, ba mhaith liom aird a tharraingt ar roinnt ábhair náisiúnta agus áitiúla. Is é an chéad cheann ná tithíocht sa Ghaeltacht. Is gá dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht lena chinntiú go mbeidh Gaeltacht ann sna blianta romhainn. Tá Sinn Féin ag rá le fada go bhfuil gá ann níos mó airgid agus cumhachtaí a thabhairt d'Údarás na Gaeltachta chun tithíocht a chur ar fáil do chainteoirí Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht. Mar aon leis sin, ceapaim féin go bhfuil deis againn anois smaoineamh ar thithíocht Ghaeilge a chur ar fáil do lucht labhartha na Gaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht. I mo chontae féin, Contae an Chabháin, tá aithne agam ar na scórtha teaghlach agus na céadta daoine gur breá leo ceantar agus pobal úr Gaeltachta a chur ar bun i mBaile an Chabháin nó i Muinchille.”
“Maybe the Minister of State can confirm that the volunteer activation fund will continue because it creates certainty for organisations that rely heavily on volunteers.”
“We have to ensure that there is good governance in all of these sectors. I recognise that there are different organisations established, such as the Charities Regulator, to ensure all of that is done properly but we have to ensure that there is investment, not only in training support staff, but in administrative roles, and that it does not become too cumbersome for smaller organisations. Volunteers may give their time freely but it is not cost free. For example, many organisations have had to recruit additional staff solely to manage vetting requirements. Going back to the youth work sector, the volunteer activation fund was a valuable initiative that recognised these pressures. It has not yet been confirmed for 2026.”
“I am delighted to note that there is another one being prepared to follow during the year. The strategy introduced a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the sustainability and development of volunteering across Irish society, but without consistent investment in volunteer support and club development, the sector risks losing its reach, diversity and grassroots involvement. The council will continue to seek training provision - participation costs sometimes need to be covered - and formal recognition of the governance role within youth organisations and, indeed, other organisations as well. Some people have already mentioned here that we have to be careful that we do not overburden groups, especially smaller organisations that only have maybe a small number of volunteers, with a lot of regulations. Regulation is important.”
“I engaged with the National Youth Council of Ireland this week and it has a few comments on the youth sector in relation to volunteers involved in youth work. Volunteer youth work is the cornerstone of the youth sector in Ireland. A majority of young people who engage in youth clubs do so with the volunteer-led youth clubs, but the council feels that there is insufficient training and support for volunteers and for the development, recruitment and retention of volunteers within the youth sector because they are essential to sustaining youth work infrastructure, particularly in rural and community-based settings. The launch of Ireland's first national volunteering strategy in December 2020 was a landmark step. It recognised and supported the unique contribution of volunteers.”
“It did important work with older people in the community and just needed a place where it could bring people for different activities on a regular basis, provide them with a hot meal and have little bits of entertainment and engagement. It is a wonderful organisation. It has been going for many years. I also want to mention Positive Age Cavan. It works with older people as well. It is all volunteer led and is important in providing support to older people. I want to mention volunteers from other countries. There has been a huge number of people who have come here, as asylum seekers or to work, from other countries and have got involved in the local community. It is wonderful to see. It is a great way of integrating people into communities.”
“Looking back on my own life, I have volunteered in many different capacities. Sometimes, you do it without even thinking. As was said, in your involvement in a political party, you are volunteering quite a bit of your time. I would have been involved as a Foróige leader in my time. I would have been involved in extracurricular activities at school. It would give you a different perspective of working with young people because you are not teaching them in the classroom; you are meeting them on a different level. It builds the relationship, and improves it, with them in school. I was also involved in a community development organisation in my local area and we built a community centre there. That was heavily influenced by the need for something. There is an organisation called Kilnaleck Social Services.”
“Good evening, a Aire Stáit. I would like to start by commending again all those who are involved in volunteering in so many sectors across Cavan and all of our country. You have people who work with children, with our youth, with our sports organisations and with drama groups. You have got community development organisations. You have got the Tidy Towns, older people and disabled people. I want to mention PPNs. PPNs do vital work in supporting the voluntary and community sector in all of our counties. They give them a voice, for example, on strategic policy committees, SPCs, so that they can influence policy and decision-making, but they also are involved in networking between organisations and providing training and advice. They are important and I commend them.”
“This will exclude children with additional needs from receiving this care in the home. It is the choice of many parents to have their children cared for in someone else's home. They want the homely atmosphere and the freedom of the childminder being able to bring their children to different activities, with their permission of course. They do not need a risk assessment. There is also the possibility of rates being imposed on childminders, and their names and addresses being put up on the Tusla website. None of these measures are necessary. If the system is not broken, do not fix it.”
“All of those who spoke to us are members of Childminding Ireland, which means they are all insured, are registered with Tusla, have undertaken safeguarding training and are Garda vetted. I think that is more than sufficient to give parents peace of mind around who is taking care of their children. If these new regulations are introduced, it will mean they cannot take the children to the park across the road without risk-assessing the park, or take the children to a movie without a risk assessment first being carried out. One childminder, who delivers the ECCE scheme in her home, said that she will no longer be able to offer AIM support to children with additional needs because you have to work alone under these new regulations, which means she will not be able to employ someone like an SNA to assist her in that situation.”
“Last week, members of Childminding Ireland spoke to us in the audiovisual room. A number of childminders told us that they have made up their minds to leave childminding in the next few months, or are very strongly considering doing so. They said that many of their colleagues are also thinking of doing this. The reason for this is the proposed regulations that the Minister, Deputy Foley, is considering bringing forward. I urge the Minister to sit down and talk to childminders and the organisations that represent them before doing anything more. We already have 40,000 children under the age of three waiting for childminding or crèche places, and we are going to exacerbate that figure.”
“This Bill is quite confusing and landlords and tenants are not clear on what the new rules mean for them. There are a lot of different types of tenancies proposed. I predict the Residential Tenancies Board will be even busier than it has been to date. What resources have been put in place to adequately staff the Residential Tenancies Board? We really believe there needs to be a multi-annual workforce plan put in place for the RTB to ensure that it can deal with all the issues we foresee coming down the road.”
“I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31, and in page 6, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “(2) Within three months of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a multi annual work force plan for the Residential Tenancies Board ensuring they have adequate staff to deal with the increase in disputes arising from the provisions of this Act.”. Amendment No. 4 is in relation to the Residential Tenancies Board. We know the Residential Tenancies Board already does very important work. It registers tenancies and it provides advice to both landlords and tenants. It provides us with a lot of data on rentals and tenancies. It also settles a lot of disputes or works with disputing sides to try to reach a resolution.”
“I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31, and in page 6, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “(2) Within three months of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report setting out the impact of this Act on rental inflation for student renters in both the private rental sector and the Student Specific Accommodation sector.”.”
“When you factor in inflationary costs and the lack of funding that has been provided over the past decade, there has been an underinvestment of €2 million in the roads in Cavan. We have now received an allocation of less than last year, despite all of the work done by representatives and the council itself. It beggars belief. We need a conversation with the Minister for Transport about this road allocation and where we are going. We in Cavan must depend on our road structure. I have said often enough that we have no train service. Everything happens by road. It is a large rural county with a lot of agriculture and agri-sector employment in rural areas. We need our road structure in decent condition.”
“The long-awaited road allocation was made this week to local authorities. I have listened to a number of Government representatives welcoming this money. However, when I look at the money allocated to Cavan County Council, there is a shortfall of €27,000 on last year's allocation for local roads. I have raised the issue previously. Many people have raised the condition of the roads in their areas. They are a disaster everywhere. In Cavan, however, the roads are disintegrating in front of our eyes. Cavan County Council spent considerable time putting together a submission to the Department last year seeking additional funding for the roads. There is a long and extensive network of rural roads in Cavan and those roads are in very poor condition.”
“It is very important that this be done in consultation with the unions and to ensure that the people who are most affected by this are listened to and the change is made. The Minister outlined a number of supports available to people who have suffered an injury. We need to make sure that every school staff member should be aware of the supports and how to access them. It can sometimes be an issue where people do not know. I fully support the Bill and I commend Senator Harmon on her work on it.”
“It not fair that any person who is injured while doing their job should end up not having their medical costs covered and having their leave pay cut off at a certain point when they are not fit to go back to work. It has to be extended to cover the period for when they are medically unfit. We also have to recognise that other supports may be required, such as psychological supports or specialist supports like physiotherapy, etc., and they should also be covered. The person who suffered the injury should not be out of the cost of those. As the Bill says, early retirement options should be available in the case of long-term or permanent incapacity to return to work. I know Minister and Senator Crowe referenced that work is being done to look at all these issues and to change the legislation.”
“She is worried constantly about money and meeting all the expenses they have, especially as we are going through a cost of living crisis. There is also the fact that she has lost her independence. She is not earning anymore, so she is financially dependent on her spouse. That puts any person in a precarious position. There is also the loss of social contact and of getting up and going out to work. She has a lot of different issues. She requires a lot of support, and she has anxiety as a result of what happened to her, and she worries about the day-to-day issues of the loss of income as well. Something has to be done to address the situation.”
“A lot of these issues could be avoided if students got the proper supports, like speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, etc. A number of teachers and SNAs have reached out to me urging me to support this Bill, which of course is not a problem for me. One woman struck a chord with me. It has been two and a half years since she received quite a severe injury in school. She has undergone surgery during this time. She has had a lot of pain and discomfort and ended up with mobility issues as a result. Her assault leave and sick pay leave have been exhausted at this stage so she is currently unpaid. Her family has been reduced to depending on only one income, when before it was a two-income family. They have children who are students in third level education and that is a costly endeavour.”
“This can only happen if the required supports are put in place within our mainstream schools to ensure that all children get an appropriate education, preferably in their local school alongside their siblings. As Senator Harmon has said, it is not intentional when students injure someone. No SNA or special education teacher I have spoken to has said any different. I dislike the word, as they do. The lashing out which may cause an injury often comes from a place of frustration and it is often due to an inability on the part of the student to communicate what they are feeling. I have to go back to early intervention and community supports, which are severely lacking in our society at the moment. If the children who require the supports get them at an early stage, they will progress.”
“On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I support this Bill wholeheartedly. I commend Senator Harmon on all the work she has done on this extremely important issue. As a former teacher, I witnessed at first hand the dedication that special education teachers and SNAs have to their students with additional needs or those with disabilities. In fact, without the support of SNAs in particular within our mainstream schools we would not be able to include these children in education. It is not that long ago that any student with an additional need or a disability was sent off to an institution and was excluded from society. Thankfully, we have moved a long way from that but we still have a way to go to make sure our education system is fully inclusive.”
“Has the Government engaged with communities and groups like Focus Ireland, the Simon Communities in Ireland and so forth? I do not think they are in favour of this Bill. Rather, they are fearful of what will happen as a result of it. They are going to see an increase in the number of people trying to access the homeless services they provide. Maybe the Minister of State and the Department have engaged, but have they listened? I fear not.”
“Quite a number of landlords are selling as a result of this Bill because they find it confusing and feel it penalises them, especially smaller landlords who are now deemed large landlords if they have four or more properties. That is not many. Those tenants being evicted from a property are in an awful position because they have nowhere to go and cannot afford the rent. Even if they qualify for HAP, there are no available properties anyway. Landlords are picking and choosing, and most of them are not choosing HAP. The Minister of State mentioned our referencing of Irish institutional investors, vulture funds and other big investment companies. The Minister of State said there had been engagement with people from all of the sectors concerning housing. While they might have been engaged with, were they listened to?”
“The Minister of State talked about the need for an increase in supply, particularly with regard to apartments. I can probably see an increase in apartments in Dublin, maybe Cork and other large urban centres, but they will be quite high end and out of reach to most ordinary people. For counties like Cavan, Monaghan and the smaller, more rural ones where there will be small, non-major groups of apartments, I cannot see investors being interested in building apartments in those small-to-medium-sized towns. It will not benefit any tenant or prospective tenant in the likes of Cavan and the more rural counties. We need an increase in the supply of public and affordable housing on public land to address this. Many people are facing eviction because their landlords are selling.”
“For example, in my county, Cavan, the average rent is €947 per month. The market rent in Cavan is €1,226. For a new tenancy after 1 March, a landlord could potentially increase the average rent by €279 a month. If landlords do that, and I predict many of them will, certainly if they have not raised the rent in some time and cannot do so again for another six years, it could result in a rent increase of €3,300 over a year for tenants. That is what we are basing our figures on. They are average figures, of course, and we do not know what every individual landlord is going to do. However, I predict that the vast majority of landlords will take the opportunity to raise the rent when a new tenancy comes along because they will not get an opportunity to do it again for another six years.”
“The Minister of State said this Bill will bring security of tenure to tenants. However, security of tenure is no use to any tenant if they cannot afford the rent. The Bill is confusing because it will create different categories of tenants. There will be those in new tenancies that start after 1 March, there will be existing tenancies and then there will be students. There are different groups of tenants and some are going to be afforded protections while others are not. That is highly unfair. All tenants deserve security of tenure but they deserve security of tenure with an affordable rent. There should not be a differential across the tenancies. In relation to the Residential Tenancies Board figures Senator Andrews referred to, the RTB figures are based on its predictions around existing rent and market rent. Sinn Féin looked at those.”
“Again, that figure will only rise because more and more people are going to be out on the street because they cannot afford the rent as it is and this Bill will drive rents up. We should have had proper analysis of any sort of legislation like this on what it will do to the rental market. We need regular monitoring and reporting of this Bill as we go forward.”
“They move into the house at whatever the rent is and then they move out. Then they have to get another new tenancy for the following year. The rent will be raised again and again. I do not know how I will afford that if that is what happens next year and I know many other families will be in exactly the same position. This Bill will only drive homelessness higher because already we are talking about in excess of 16,000 people, of whom 5,000 are children. That is not even counting the people I have already spoken about who are bunking in the family box room or lying on the sofa of their friend's house or in domestic violence shelters or lying on the street. There are a lot more homeless than we actually see in those figures that are accessing emergency accommodation.”
“They have to go on the private rental market without any sort of financial support and they cannot find anywhere to rent. Do they go into homeless accommodation or do they try to bunk in with family, squashed into one bedroom? It is an absolute nightmare for them. As I said, this legislation is not well thought out whatsoever. It will have an extreme impact on rent in the private rental sector. On students, I am about to see my son go off to college, I hope, in September. He will be looking for rented accommodation and we know there is very little student-specific accommodation or on-campus accommodation. If he is lucky enough to get that - and it is not cheap either - that would be great but if not he will be depending on the private rental market. It is a new tenancy every year because most students seek a nine-month tenancy.”
“Going on those figures, it is possible that people may end up paying up to €3,500 extra a year in the first year and for subsequent years in a new tenancy in my county of Cavan. I do not know where they will get the money. I am hearing from families whose landlords are selling up because this legislation is so confusing and have issued eviction notices to people. Up to this, they had been charging them a reasonably fair rent. People come into my office and ask me where they are going to find a rental they can afford. They are looking but they cannot find anything because there is very little availability and what is available is very expensive. Many of these people are above the HAP rates and above the social housing threshold.”
“He was only charging €800 euro to a family for his property, whereas one neighbour was charging €1,500 and another was charging €1,600 for the same size house. He had not raised his rent. He was not that type of person. He said he was not greedy and he was not trying to profiteer off ordinary people because he did not think it was fair. However, he will obviously take the opportunity to raise it, maybe not as high as his neighbours, but to some extent. Many landlords will raise the rent to what we call market value when they get the opportunity. Looking at the figures from the Residential Tenancies Board for the average rent in each county, we know some places have lower rents and many places are much higher. The figures also show an average market rent.”