Action urged on rent standards

THE MINISTER for Social and Family Affairs, Martin Cullen, made a strong appeal to local authorities to deal with the problem of sub-standard private-rented accommodation.

"I urge the local authorities with direct responsibility, resources and staff to deal with this issue to do so forthwith.

"I hope all councillors on local authorities will raise these issues at full council meetings, with the manager or director responsible for housing, to ensure the quality and standard of accommodation available to people, particularly those in receipt of rent supplement, is good."

Labour spokeswoman Róisín Shortall said a recent RTÉ Prime Time programme had depicted the appalling condition of much of the private-rented sector housing stock.

"It was hair-raising. It showed large numbers of private-rented sector units let out at extremely high rents, particularly in Dublin city, which were rat infested and had serious problems with dampness and overcrowding."

She said the Minister could not wash his hands of responsibility given that he was responsible for paying out €420 million of taxpayers' money annually to landlords, many of whom were unscrupulous people.

Mr Cullen said responsibility for setting and enforcing housing standards rested with local authorities. Up to October 2007, the HSE had received only 18 notifications of sub-standard accommodation and had acted on all of them.