Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The big problem is that the 4% rate is on top of a rate that is way too high and unaffordable for too many people. It is having a huge impact and the Government is now hearing how it affects the Brexit process. The fact that accommodation is so expensive will stop companies from moving here. One can rent an apartment in any city in Italy for €400 per month and there is no comparison between what one pays in Berlin and what one pays here. Putting 4% on top of what is already there is off the Richter scale for too many people.

I accept that we cannot build social housing overnight but we have to have an appetite to build a lot of it and to get the process started to do so. I am not convinced that the Minister really wants to build a lot of new social housing. Does the Minister agree that, to tackle the long-term problem, we will have to do that?

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