I wish to raise the issue of people being charged to view rental accommodation. Threshold came out last week to talk about this and it wants something done to protect tenants.

Hear, hear.

Landlords are charging fees for tenants to view houses which are non-refundable-----

How much?

It varies. There were several examples given by Threshold in its report last week. One woman was charged a fee of €500-----

Outrageous.

-----and if she was not in a position to pay the €500, she would not be allowed to view the house. Threshold has stated this is becoming more common. The current demand on rental accommodation means that landlords can do what they like and people have no choice but to pay this if they want accommodation-----

We in this House should make it illegal.

The Senator is on the list.

I believe that it is disgusting.

Hear, hear.

Another woman who was receiving the housing assistance payment, HAP, was asked for a €300 deposit to view a property. She could not provide the €300, but she would not get the €300 deposit back if she had viewed it and if the HAP payment was insufficient to cover the rent. That is outrageous.

Disgraceful.

Another man was asked for his personal public service, PPS, number, his passport, a confirmation of his employment, his employment history, his salary details and a fee of €150. It is absolutely disgusting. Landlords are filtering out potential tenants and it is not good enough. It is discrimination and something needs to be done about it. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to come into the House to discuss this issue because it is not good enough in this day and age.