Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has spoken out against the small number of rogue landlords who are renting out substandard accommodation or overcrowding their premises.

The Sinn Féin TD was speaking after a Sinn Féin private members motion, aimed at tackling substandard private rental conditions and getting tougher with rogue landlords, was overwhelmingly passed by the Dáil.

Deputy Crowe said:

“Many people who watched the recent RTÉ Prime Time programme – Nightmare to Let – will have been shocked by what they saw. It was extreme, raw and shocking that this was happening in Dublin City in 2017.

“This week Sinn Féin tabled a private members motion calling on the Government to tackle substandard private rental conditions and to get tougher on rogue landlords. A majority of TDs supported the motion in the Dáil and it was passed.

“In the debate I detailed some cases that I have dealt with in Dublin South West in which tenants were treated badly and left living in completely substandard and unacceptable conditions. In one case the landlord turned a toilet into a bedroom and in another a tenant was living in a house with bars on the windows, a gas boiler in the bedroom, and water literally running down the walls.

“South Dublin County Council has the second best inspection rate of rented properties in the State, but many of its tenants live in overcrowded, damp, and mould ridden homes and they have no real prospect of a transfer to larger and acceptable accommodation.

“Our motion called on the Government to support the proposal by Threshold Ireland for an NCT-type system for private rented housing to further strengthen compliance with legal standards. It also called for increased funding for local authorities to proactively inspect rental accommodation and ensure more tenants are living in adequate and well maintained rental properties.

“Now that the motion has passed it is time for the Government to act and urgently implement these measures in order to prevent vulnerable tenants from being exploited by these rogue and slum landlords.”

ENDS