Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which seeks to ban rent increases for all existing and new tenancies for three years. It is not news to anyone that we have a housing crisis and, within that, a private rental crisis. Rents have skyrocketed over a number of years.

In my home county of Louth, the average rent is now €1,311 per month but, in reality, the cost is between €1,400 and €1,600. Rents have increased by 4.7% in the past year. In County Meath, the average rent is more than €1,400, which is an increase of 4.9% in a year. In reality, people are paying anything from €1,600 to €1,800.

In fact, since their lowest point after the economic crash which, incidentally, was also caused by Fianna Fáil’s housing policy, rents in County Louth have increased by 114% and those in County Meath by 118%. That is crazy. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight. Rents continue to soar and the Government continues to look the other way. According to the most recent figures available from Daft.ie, the increase in the last quarter alone was 2.1% in County Louth and 2.5% in County Meath. Until this Government allows for the building of enough houses to deal with the demand that exists, rents will never fall. I have no confidence that the Government will build affordable houses, so we need this Bill to ensure rents cannot increase further for a period of three years.

The Bill is just one part of a suite of housing solutions Sinn Féin has put forward. The Government has refused to help renters. It has turned a blind eye to the issue and is hiding behind legal excuses as to why it will not act. We all know that the Minister and his Government colleagues are protecting their own - their developer friends and landlords. They always have done so and they always will. They could not care less that renters are being bled dry with extortionate rents month after month. We need this Bill as a protection for renters and I call on all Deputies, particularly Government Deputies, to adopt a backbone and, for once, put their constituents first, take a stand and support the Bill.

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