Pearse Doherty: ARP is Deeply Unfair, Amendments Needed

I want to commend Deputy Carthy for the amendments that he's tabled but also his steadfast challenging of a scheme which is deeply deeply unfair and the amendments that we've tabled today remove the unfairness of it and this this scheme should not be extended without these amendments being introduced. For over two years we in Sinn Féin have been raising concerns with the accommodation recognition payment. It was brought in as Deputy Carthy said as an emergency measure following the brutal invasion of Ukraine. It was about people hosting Ukrainians in their own homes. It was something that Sinn Féin supported and it happened right throughout the state including in my own constituency of Donegal but it morphed into something completely different and for two years we have been telling you that. We have been telling you that it has a serious impact on the private rental sector. We have been telling you that it is unfair on the on the way that you have framed this and why is it unfair? It's unfair on five different reasons. One, it's only available to Ukrainians. Second, it is the only situation where the state pays the full rent in relation to this. Third, there is no means test applied to the individuals who the state pays the rent to. Four, the landlord gets a tax-free payment. They do not have to pay tax on that and five, the landlord have no obligations whatsoever in relation to RDB or tenants rights in relation to that and that is why this scheme has exploded in the last two years since we have been raising these issues with it. It is an incentive that despite the concerns that we have raised time and time again the government have come in here and extended the scheme and you're doing the same today. And since I stood up here two years ago and warned that the extension of the scheme should not go ahead without our amendments, what has happened in my county of Donegal, a county that is under huge pressure in terms of accommodation, a county that is so many people with defective block and really find it hard to find a place to rent. Well the number of people, the number of properties hosting Ukrainians has gone from 608 to 2,159. One in ten properties in the state are Donegal and tell me, stand up there with a straight face and say that this is an impact in the private rental sector in that county. But I don't need you to tell me that because we have been saying it for two years. You have hid the evidence in relation to the RTB's report that was conducted on the effects of the ARP. It was buried, it was denied under Freedom of Information but now we have it in black and white where it says that this scheme is having a negative impact on the private rental sector. It is an incentive to divert properties from the rental sector to the ARP. It is deeply unfair. It is deeply deeply unfair. The amendments that Deputy Carthy has tabled will remove the unfairness from it so you should not be extending a scheme here which embeds that unfairness and I challenge the opposition parties to actually call out what is unfair. Of course we need to support Ukrainians but it shouldn't be in this way which it seriously impacts the private rental sector. We wouldn't stand for it in any other situation and we shouldn't stand for it here. The amendments are sensible, they should be supported by the House.