Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Three years ago, at a committee meeting with the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, I mentioned that as house prices were rising, we were heading towards another bubble. The Minister responded with a wry smile and stated that house prices were not expensive enough, which was a shocking statement.

If one looks at the record of the Government so far, that is exactly what it has sought to do, namely, to increase house prices. Instead of taking action with regard to building houses, it has produced schemes such as the help-to-buy scheme. That scheme simply puts money into the pockets of those who are chasing the limited supply, thus raising house prices. One can also see an over-dependence by the Government on the private market and the private rental scheme is another example of Government money chasing limited supply instead of being used to build houses. Obviously the very favourable tax deals done for real estate investment trusts, REITs, and vulture funds allow massive multinational firms to chase limited supply and push Irish first-time buyers out of the market. It is a clear part of Fine Gael policy that house prices increase.

I do not have much time left but wish to raise one more issue with the Minister of State, Deputy English. As he knows, our constituency has the shocking, infamous record of being one of the areas that has seen the highest increases in rents in the country, quarter after quarter and year after year. That is causing immeasurable hardship and putting enormous pressure on families. What is the Minister of State going to do about this? Why has Meath West not been included in the State's rent control zones?

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