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

They acquire them, and they do so by outbidding ordinary families and workers who simply want to purchase a home and put a roof over their heads. That is what is happening. Does the Taoiseach know what his policy is doing? It is making a bad situation worse. It is demonstrating that the wrong kind of supply can actually make the situation worse.

The average renters find themselves in a nightmare of the Government's construction. They are being fleeced for high rent by the funds that have sweetheart and favourable arrangements with the Government, and they are unable to accumulate a deposit and advance in their lives.

It is outrageous. It strikes me that the Taoiseach is happy to come in and recite big figures, but never actually get to the root of the issue or deal with the day-to-day reality that people cannot make their rent. I put it to the Taoiseach again that, as part of the Government's cost of living package, he should cut rents by means of a tax credit and, for God's sake, put a ban on runaway rent increases for three years. I ask the Taoiseach to do those things for the renters of this country.

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