Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Two reports that came out today are damning of the Government’s housing policy. The latest rental report from daft.ieshows that rip-off rents were up another staggering 10% in the final three months of last year. New figures also reveal that cuckoo funds, courtesy of sweetheart tax deals provided by the Government, massively outbid ordinary house buyers for family homes and then rent them back to those people at extortionate rates.

On the Taoiseach's watch, affordability has gone out the window. These rack rents mean that people have no breathing room to save for a deposit. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made homeownership a pipe dream for an entire generation and a nightmare for those desperately seeking to put a roof over their heads.

In October's budget, the Taoiseach did nothing for renters - zero, zilch, nada- and this has to change fast. The cost-of-living measures the Taoiseach says he will introduce must include cutting rents and banning rent increases for three years. Ripped-off renters need relief now.

The average rent in the last three months of 2021 was a whopping €1,524, and it was more than €2,000 in Dublin. Let us take a second for that to sink in. There are double-digit increases in 20 counties, up by 20% or more in every county in Connacht, so clearly the rent cap of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is a failure.

In December, the Taoiseach said the role of cuckoo funds in wrecking the housing market was being exaggerated. However, his claim was simply untrue, and it does not tally with the facts that 4,900 family homes were bulk-purchased by these very funds last year and that they outbid ordinary homebuyers by up to 32%. It is past time that the Government took action on these funds. They are a key driver in pushing rents up to record levels. People are forced to pay rip-off rents before they get to pay their energy bills, put food on the table or meet the cost of childcare. Many renters are left with literally nothing at the end of the month, so is it any wonder that Generation Rent feels battered, bruised, exhausted and sold out?

The daft.ie report shows the Government is failing on supply. The number of homes available to rent is at its lowest in 15 years and, therefore, we should not be surprised that landlords get away with charging big money, sometimes to live in places where your feet could literally touch your fridge while you are lying in your bed. This is a social disaster. It is unfolding on the Government's watch. Rip-off rents rob a generation of a decent life and the ability to build their future. This cannot continue. We need action now. Renters do not have the luxury of waiting on the never–never for the Government to deliver on supply. Is tubaiste sóisialta iad na cíosanna atá as smacht. Tá glúin iomlán ann atá níos measa as ná riamh, agus tá sé ag dul in olcas. Caithfidh an Rialtas cíosanna a ghearradh agus cosc a chur ar arduithe ar feadh trí bliana.

I have been asking Taoiseach until blue in the face to cut rents by means of a tax credit, putting €1,500 back into renters' pockets, and to ban rent increases for three years. He could have done this at budget time but chose not to. I now urge him to do these very things as part of the cost-of-living package he promised. He should take this opportunity to finally make a difference for the renters of Ireland.

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