Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It beggars belief that the Government would produce a package that completely ignores the fact that rents are still out of control. Rents should not be rising by even a percentage point; they need to come down. That is not going to happen automatically; it will require the Government to take action. In the context of people paying mortgages, some of whom have been thrown to the wolves - or to the vultures, I should say - and are getting rightly screwed by the relevant institutions, the Government has given no comfort or support whatsoever. It is not sufficient for the Taoiseach to say that this is not a budget. He stated very clearly that there would be a cost-of-living package. He also stated that he is aware, since becoming back as Taoiseach, that we have a housing emergency and that this would be his top priority. He could have fooled the renters and mortgage holders of Ireland because that is not what the Government's package says.

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