Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With every week that passes, the housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. We see rents and house prices rising, social housing need continuing to grow and the number of children and adults in emergency accommodation at record levels. By every meaningful measure, the Government's housing plan is failing, yet every time a Deputy raises the issue of the housing crisis, the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach or the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government comes in here and spouts the line that the Government's housing plan is working. However, I have news for the Tánaiste: it is not. It is failing spectacularly.

On Monday the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, responding to the latest daft.iereport, had the cheek to go on RTÉ Radio and say rents are rising at "a slow rate". I am not sure on which planet exactly the Minister is living but I assure the Tánaiste of one thing: with an attitude like that, it is not in the real world. The average rent across the State is now €1,300. In Dublin, the figure is over €2,000, which is scandalous. When presented with alternatives, however, the Government simply shrugs its shoulders and carries on as normal. Ordinary people are facing a cost-of-living crisis. Whether it be rental costs, rip-off insurance costs, childcare costs or utility costs, they are being screwed over and over again and their concerns are cast aside. "The market will deliver" is Fine Gael's mantra, but the market has not delivered, is not delivering and will not deliver because the housing market is broken, and when something is broken the Government needs to go in and fix it.

A new survey by Uplift shows that 84% of renters feel insecure about their housing situation. This is little wonder when we look at the issue of rent inflation. In every county bar Dublin we have seen inflation of at least double the rent pressure zone caps that the Minister and his Government are so keen to laud. Rents in Dublin rose by 7% last year and it is absolutely bonkers at this time for the Government to be talking about mealy-mouthed measures. That time is over.

I ask the Tánaiste and his Government to cop on finally and accept that the Government's housing plan is utterly failing those most in need. Given the Government's fondness for making announcements on the eve of an election, will it now do the right thing and introduce measures that make a real difference to people's lives? The Government can start with three measures: a tax relief equal to one month's rent for every renter not already supported by the State; the introduction of a three-year rent freeze to give relief to those who are under pressure at this time; and, as we have continually placed on the Dáil's agenda, the introduction of legislation to ensure that landlords will not evict their tenants into homelessness. Will the Government legislate to this effect? These are the kinds of real measures we need to deal with the real pressures many families are facing.

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