Paul Murphy: Demands Rent Controls and Nationalisation of Landlords
Paul Murphy criticised the prevalence of landlords among TDs and argued that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael represent big landlords and developers. He said he supports the bill but warned a rent freeze is not enough, calling for rent controls linked to income, a state-led building programme and nationalisation of corporate landlords.
Landlord representation in the Dáil
One in four TDs who will vote on this measure on Thursday are landlords, and almost one in three members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who will vote are landlords. He contrasted that with one in 25 people in the wider population being landlords, arguing this is a question of class representation rather than diversity and saying Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael represent big landlords and developers.
Request to the minister
He said he asked the minister outside and received an inconclusive answer about meeting a committee formed by organisers of the December 5th protest. The committee has selected representatives who want to present demands and proposals on resolving the housing crisis, and Murphy asked whether the minister will agree to meet them.
Housing policy proposals
Murphy said he supports the bill but insisted a rent freeze is insufficient given widespread unaffordability. He called for rent controls linked to income, proposing that nobody should spend more than 20% of their income on rent or accommodation costs, and urged a massive public homebuilding project led by a state construction company. He also suggested landlords should have the option to sell properties to the state to increase public housing supply.
Nationalisation demand and movement
He urged the nationalisation of corporate landlords, noting similar demands being made loudly in Berlin. To make these changes political realities he called for a movement and highlighted forthcoming dates - January 11th and March 28th - and urged making housing a central issue in the next general election.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
One in four of TDs who will vote on this measure on Thursday are landlords. Almost one in three members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who will vote on Thursday are landlords. When Michail Martin was asked about the double jobbing of one in three TDs in this House at the weekend, he said Parliament has to represent the diversity of the people. What he forgot was that while one in four TDs are landlords, one in 25 people out there are landlords. This isn't a question of diversity, it's a question of class representation by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They should be absenting themselves from the vote, but more importantly it's a question of politics. It's not about the people's personal interests necessarily, it's about the fact that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael represent the big landlords, the big developers in this country and that's why we have the housing crisis that we have and we need to kick them out. Second point is to ask a question of the Minister. I asked Minister Murphy outside when he was leaving and I got an inconclusive answer. Will you meet with a committee of people from those who organised the protest on December 5th? They've selected a committee of people and they want to present their demands, they're asked about what they think needs to happen to resolve the housing crisis. They want to present them to the Minister. Will you agree to meet them? Will Minister Murphy agree to meet with them? The third final point is to say that I support the bill, but also to agree that a rent freeze is not enough, given the fact that rents are already unaffordable for huge numbers of working class people. What we need in reality are rent controls linked to income. Nobody should be spending more than 20% of their income on rent or accommodation costs. We need a massive public home building project driven by a state construction company. I would say for all those landlords who are talking about the difficulties and so on, when in general profits obviously are up, is that there should be an option for those people to simply sell to the state and to the state to provide housing. And we should be demanding the nationalisation of the corporate landlords as is being demanded very loudly in Berlin at the moment. To make those things happen, we need a movement. January 11th, March 28th, make this a huge issue in the general election next year.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
