Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach the crisis impacting on those in the private rental sector and he brushed the concerns I raised aside. I note he is doing the same this morning. As he acknowledged, Threshold has published its annual report, the findings of which illustrate the extent of the plight facing renters across the State. It states:

It became evident in 2017 that some landlords and agents were not adhering to the RPZ legislation or were finding ways to circumvent it. The standardised rents in all RPZs rose, some by as much as 10% in the 12-month period following the RPZ designation.

As the Taoiseach has acknowledged, that is borne out in other reports.

The daft.iequarterly rental report published last month found that the 4% rent pressure zone cap is being breached in every county in the State. The same trend has been recorded in the RTB quarterly index. There have been 20% rent increases in areas such as Limerick and Waterford cities. It is absolutely ludicrous. It is time for the Government to accept that its approach to tackling rent increases has categorically failed. The chairperson of Threshold, Ms Aideen Hayden, stated on the "Morning Ireland" radio programme this morning that she has never seen a crisis like this. She has been working in this field for a long time. She highlighted the fact that vacant possession notices to quit are the single biggest cause of homelessness in the State. I have raised that previously with the Taoiseach.

I have consistently raised these matters with the Taoiseach, who has consistently given glib responses such as his remarks yesterday about not singling out groups of people such as renters for a tax break. I remind the Taoiseach that the Government, along with its friends in Fianna Fáil, was quite happy to single out one group in the budget for a tax break and that group was landlords. What did we get in the budget? Landlords received 100% mortgage interest relief. There were tax breaks, but they were for landlords rather than struggling tenants. In spite of rents going up and up with no end in sight, the Government chooses to do precisely zero for those who are struggling. That tells it all. It has made the wrong choices and pursued the wrong priorities. While rents go up and up, the Government is found wanting. We need urgent and decisive action to tackle these issues. We need tax relief for renters and a three-year emergency rent freeze.

The Focus Ireland amendment which would prevent landlords seeking vacant possession - in other words, booting people out of their homes in order to sell the property - was put to a vote of the Dáil. It addresses one of the loopholes described by Deputy Micheál Martin .

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