Students demand enforcement of tenants’ rights

STUDENTS yesterday put up tents on Dublin’s Grafton Street in protest against the Department of Environment.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) staged the protest over the non-enforcement of existing tenancy laws by the department.

Labour TD Eamon Gilmore yesterday claimed students searching for good quality accommodation for college are not being helped by the Government’s delay in granting rights to tenants.

The USI warned students’ lives could be at risk due to the lack of enforcement of health and safety regulations by the department.

USI president Will Priestley said: “It is a scandalous state of affairs that only one in five landlords are registered, despite the fact that this is a legal requirement.”

Mr Gilmore, Labour’s spokesperson on the environment and local government, criticised the Government for slowness in enacting the Residential Tenancies Bill, a measure that gave some minimal rights to people in private rented accommodation.

“The Government has dragged this legislation out for many years,” he said.

“The Commission on the Private Rented Sector was set up by a very reluctant government and reported over three years ago. Legislation to give effect to its recommendations was only produced in the spring of this year and since then it has made very slow progress through the Oireachtas.”

He claimed there was “no urgency” by either Environment Minister Martin Cullen or his colleagues in relation to the bill.

“Tenants in the private rented sector are still exposed to unfair and unacceptable practices by many landlords and the lacuna in putting this bill on the statute book is allowing these practices to continue,” said Mr Gilmore.

The Government, he added, must show seriousness and intent with this legislation and have it passed as soon as possible.

“It is of little comfort to students currently looking for decent, reasonably priced accommodation for the coming year that the enactment of rights to protect them from unscrupulous landlords is being held up by the Government,” he said.

USI welfare officer Glen Guilfoyle has advised students renting accommodation to ensure they are provided with a rent book which they can use to log payments.

Students should not sign anything unless they are certain the flat or house is satisfactory.

USI eastern area campaigns officer Ken Kinsella said it was vital more on-campus accommodation was made available to students.

“With just 6% of Irish students living in on-campus accommodation, we are far off the European average of 17%. This kind of accommodation would provide a cheaper and more suitable choice for students if the concept was fully embraced,” he added.

USI welfare officer for southside Dublin, Sharon Hughes advised students not to panic over getting accommodation. She said USI officers were trained in how to deal with accommodation issues and had the facilities to fight for students’ rights.