Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputies are trying to be constructive. We are talking about real people and families. We are coming up to Christmas and there are people renting homes who live in fear that their landlord will put up the rent. Last week, I was contacted by a constituent who is paying €1,200 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. She got a notice that the rent was increasing to €1,243. I raised this with the Minister or Minister of State last week. This lady, a student nurse, is going to college and has to make a decision now. She is barely able to survive and is on the breadline because she is trying to pay her rent.

The question now is whether she must give up her studies to keep a roof over her head.

We are asking for a three-year rent freeze. This is an emergency. People cannot afford to pay the rent. Does the Minister of State believe current rents are affordable for ordinary people? I am not talking about the big earners but ordinary people and families who are trying to live their lives. I am telling him now they are not affordable. If the Minister of State believes rents are affordable, it shows how out of touch he and his Government are.

There are thousands of derelict houses and sites right across this State. There are 21 local authorities that do not enforce a derelict sites register and 13 that do not collect a penny. In the middle of the worst housing crisis in the history of the State, we have thousands of properties that could be turned into social, affordable housing and cost-rental homes. The Government will not fund local authorities to put teams in place to tackle dereliction and compulsorily purchase properties. I had a meeting today with Cork City Council. I wanted to know what it is doing about dereliction. We have hundreds of properties across Cork city and county lying idle because the Government will not support the local authorities to tackle dereliction. At the same time, it is allowing landlords to increase rents.

The rent pressure zones did not work, as we told the previous Government they would not work. Fianna Fáil supported that Government at the time and it did not do anything to stop it. Here we are now with rents having gone through the roof. The reason for that is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are pro-landlord and support rent increases.

See this speech in context