Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have already dealt with the two arguments I took from the Minister's statement. This relates to a report. I am sure the Minister is aware of our full proposal, which is that rent relief would be introduced and there would be a rent freeze or cap at the same time. The argument that this would go directly into the pocket of landlords would not hold as rents could not increase over those three years. The Minister is correct about what would happen if this was non-refundable, which is not the case. The proposal we have is that this would be a refundable tax credit, meaning those on low incomes that do not have a tax liability would still be able to avail of it. This is particularly pertinent to students, as the Minister mentioned.

The cost would be significantly increased from the previous scheme based on the Residential Tenancies Board number of tenancies and average rent, leaving the figure just short of €250 million. This is an emergency and this is a time for emergency action. This rent relief could not sit on its own without a rent freeze. Even with those two elements, it would make no sense unless we ramped up serious capacity within the sector. That is why we in Sinn Féin argue that an additional €1 billion should be invested in social and affordable housing. If that does not happen, after the three years the assistance would be turned off but we would still have the same problem if supply did not increase in the sector. This is a response to the Minister's comments, while acknowledging that the form in which we must submit amendments cannot deal with a rent freeze or the tax-refundable nature of the proposal. The report would establish that. We are not really seeking a report but rather for the Government to take serious action to help the 240,000 renters out there who are finding it difficult to make ends meet.