Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy that the Government certainly does not underestimate the problem. We recognise that there is pent-up demand and we are doing what we can to address that. To do that, we need to adopt strategies. As I already outlined, the "Social Housing Strategy 2020" and the "Construction 2020" strategy address in a multifaceted way the delivery of more units for those who need them and to meet the demand. Unless we increase the supply of houses, rent will always be a problem in this country. The Government has already announced how it will invest heavily in the delivery of extra units. We are prioritising and front-loading the refurbishment of voids in the main urban centres to relieve some of the pressure and a number of housing projects and allocations will be announced shortly to further enhance that.

The PRTB refers to rent control, about which Deputy Paul Murphy speaks. Research shows that crude rent caps lead to a reduction in the supply of rental units. We need to be careful here that whatever interventions the Government makes do not reduce what we all know is needed, that is, an increased supply in this area.

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