Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not interested in the Tánaiste's snipes against me. It does not interest me. For years, we have been raising the issue of rent being out of control and for years the Tánaiste has stood up in his seat and given different excuses. Forget about what Sinn Féin is saying, and just listen to what the RTB is saying. Rent increased in the past year by 15.5% in Kilkenny, 16.1% in Clare, 15.9% in Longford and 17% in Leitrim. The Tánaiste can talk about real rent freezes and so on and so forth. Inflation is running at 3%. We told the Tánaiste that when the Government introduced its policy. It means that rent costs can continue to increase by 3%.

The Tánaiste talks about rent caps in recent years of 4%, yet every single county has breached them year on year. He has been in government for more than ten years, he has been Taoiseach for a large portion of that time, and yet in Dublin today, if you are renting an average three-bedroom house in the city where he lives, you are paying €2,105. What I, Sinn Féin and, more so, renters are saying to the Tánaiste is that he needs to prioritise them and their cost of living over the income of the landlords.

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