Tipperary TD says legislation favours landlords and urges declaration of housing emergency

Independent Tipperary South TD Seamus Healy has strongly criticised Government housing legislation, warning that it will push rents higher, worsen homelessness and entrench what he described as a deepening housing emergency.

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In a statement released on social media on February 5, Deputy Healy said the Bill offered no meaningful protection for renters and would instead accelerate rent increases across the market.

“The only guarantee in the Bill is that the already unaffordable rip-off rents will be increased to extortionate proportions, and I mean all rents, not just those affecting tenancies, from 1 March,” he said.

He warned that rent levels would rise sharply over a short period, describing the measure as “an outright attack on renters”.

According to Deputy Healy, as many as 60,000 tenants could face annual increases of between €3,000 and €3,500. Such increases, he said, would force renters out of the market and drive homelessness higher.

Deputy Healy argued that the legislation was designed to serve the interests of large landlords and institutional investors. “This Bill is written for, on behalf of and by big corporate landlords and institutional investors,” he said.

He linked the legislation to what he described as a worsening housing crisis. On December 31, he said, 16,734 people were homeless, an increase of 1,870 on 2024. Of those, 5,188 were children, up 678 on the previous year. “That is a scandal, and this Bill will make matters worse,” he said.

The TD also criticised the Government’s record on housing supply, pointing to missed targets. This year’s goal of delivering 41,000 homes was missed by more than 5,000 units, he said. The continued shortfall, he argued, “continues to undermine the very fabric of Irish society”.

Deputy Healy said there was an alternative to current policy, centred on the formal declaration in law of a housing emergency.

He said this should form the foundation of any effective response to what he described as a failed approach by successive governments.

Housing, he noted, is recognised as a human right under Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He cited the Housing Commission, which has stated: “It is critical that this housing deficit is addressed through emergency action.”

According to Deputy Healy, governments have repeatedly failed to act on this assessment. “The Government's current plan and this Bill fail,” he said. “They are rebaked policies of previous Governments and previous plans. This one is no different.”

He pointed to precedent for emergency legislation, referring to the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts between 2011 and 2016.

A declaration of a housing emergency in law, he said, would require the State, its agencies, local authorities, approved housing bodies and utilities such as Irish Water and the ESB to take urgent action.

Such an approach, he argued, would be consistent with Bunreacht na hÉireann and should be implemented without delay.

Deputy Healy said resolving the crisis would require large-scale construction of social and affordable housing on public land, an end to evictions and a freeze on rents rather than increases to what he described as extortionate market levels.

He also called for a major programme allowing local authorities to purchase vacant homes, refurbish them and allocate them to housing applicants.

These measures, he said, should form the starting point of a credible housing strategy, with the declaration of a housing emergency as the first and essential step.

Deputy Healy concluded by highlighting income limits for local authority housing, describing them as outdated, inadequate and a significant source of pressure for working families and those reliant on social welfare.

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