Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

We have had dozens of debates in this Chamber on rents and house prices over the past seven years yet, despite the endless Bills and all the legislation, we have seen rents continue to spiral radically. Housing affects everything. There is no doubt in my mind that the lack of Government action over the past seven years especially has pushed many families into significant poverty. This poverty is all-encompassing, affecting all elements of people's lives and radically reducing the level of opportunity they have in their lives. It also has a physical effect on people. I know this from my constituency. I have seen it over the past seven years. I have seen people move from Dublin to Ashbourne, from Ashbourne to Navan, then from Navan on to Kells, then from Kells to Virginia and from Virginia to Cavan. They are surfing a wave of affordability westward so they can still afford a roof over their heads. They still have to work in Dublin but they cannot afford to live in the same province their job is in, which is incredible. Children are being pulled out of schools each time such a move is made, which is having a big impact on their lives. The rents in my constituency are incredible. The average rent is more than €1,400 and in many areas is much higher than that. Under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil the rents in my county have doubled in just the past seven years. That is an atrocious reflection on Government policy on rent.

The backdrop to all this is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and now the Greens have been rigging the property market in favour of institutional investment funds in part and have not provided the necessary capital for builders to be able to build. The report on the international investment funds in The Business Postwas just fascinating. We had the Government tear itself apart here a couple of weeks ago. The Taoiseach, incredibly, stated that local authorities should not be on the wrong side of these deals and that no local authority should engage with long-term leases with these institutional investors. Then, after the big existential debate we had just a couple of weeks ago, we had a report in The Business Postwhich showed us that in fact these institutional investment funds will be exempt from the 10% stamp duty increase as long as they rent properties back to local authorities. The Government is saying one thing and doing the complete opposite at the same time. Of course, this follows the earlier discovery in May by The Business Postthat the Government itself had invested €225 million in cuckoo funds that were buying up hundreds of houses in this State.

I remember the debate taking place here and Minister after Minister and Deputies feigning shock that this could happen in our country when in fact the State was investing in these funds. Then, when asked why the State was doing so, the Government said it could not make a decision in the direction of the investment of funds. Damn right it can. It can invest money on the basis of common sense, logic and objectives on housing. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael admit these investment funds are on a gravy train but at the same time they facilitate that gravy train. We know REITs, international investors and vulture funds have been turbo-boosted by Government preferential tax deals. IRES REIT, Ireland's largest private residential landlord, owns 3,700 residential properties in Dublin and Cork and its portfolio is estimated at €1.38 billion as of 2020. This is a 47% increase on the figure for the previous year. IRES REIT has seen a 22% increase in its rental yields as of 2019. Since that time its portfolio has increased in size and its rental income has grown. You can go down through the investment funds. I do not have time to do so now, unfortunately.

We in Aontú have in the past three weeks introduced a Bill to the Dáil that would delete the tax advantages that have been given to REITs in this country on residential properties. It would level the playing field. Remember, these international investment companies have endless access to cash. They have cheap cash, probably at 0% interest rates, and they have the special tax deals with the Government. The citizens, the families who are competing for homes with these investment funds, do not have any of that. They are being stuffed by the Government that claims to represent them. I welcome this Bill and I urge the Government to support the Aontú Bill as well.

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