Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

From the property price register. What I am saying is that more houses are being built and fewer are for sale. That is happening in many parts of the country and it is because we have a market that is being hoovered up by pension funds and investors who will now be able to set the rent prices in those given areas. That is a serious issue. We need to wake up to the fact that entire communities and parts of our cities - not just Dublin - and our suburbs will be owned by these investor funds. That is not a good place to be in. Some 21% of people who are housed are housed in private rented accommodation. That is up from 9% in 1991. The Minister has spoken about moving towards a continental model of housing. We are there already because we are below the European average on home ownership. That is a serious problem. I do not believe it is a life choice to rent in the private market. It is because of lack of supply.

The Minister must speak to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform urgently about the discretionary cap. That needs to happen. I do not accept that it cannot happen because it was not conditional.