Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Rents have skyrocketed in the last few years. In the last year alone, Laois renters experienced a 7% increase in their rent, bringing their average monthly payment to €980. In Offaly, renters saw a 5.5% increase, bringing their rents to an average of €915 per month. Compared with 2017, renters in Laois are now handing over an additional €2,808 a month to landlords, while in Offaly tenants are handing over a whopping €3,700 a month to landlords. This is a huge increase with some workers paying up to half their wages in rent. These are workers who are just scraping by and going without essentials, like proper clothes and heating. Enough is enough. The rental market is out of control and the only people who cannot see it are those in the Government. Rack renting landlords must be reined in.

This Government has been too reliant on the private market for social housing, using measures such as HAP and leasing. These are reducing the supply of housing available for renting in the private sector and, in turn, driving up rents. We have brought forward yet another piece of legislation to give workers and renters a break. Our Bill would enforce a three-year rent freeze across the State, and through a rental tax rebate Laois renters would get €980 back and would be €980 better off, while Offaly renters would be €915 better off.

Alongside this measure, Sinn Féin would double the output of social and affordable housing in 2020. We would kick start the affordable housing purchase scheme to allow workers and their families who cannot get a mortgage from banks to buy a house - contrary to what Fianna Fáil was trying to say earlier on - and escape the rental market. We would also develop a cost to rental programme through local authorities and approved housing bodies. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, said earlier that the Government cannot give renters a modest tax break and that it would cause chaos. This Government has no problem giving tax breaks to landlords.

Sinn Féin has the solutions to the housing crisis and we are calling on all parties across the House to support and implement them.

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