Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The rental system is in crisis. The average rent in my area now stands at more than €1,900 per month. Ordinary workers and families are being pushed to the pin of their collar. The increases in the cost of living have had a terrible impact on people in my community. This week, there have been increases in the price of electricity by 24% and of gas by a whopping 32%. The Government will say some of these increases are outside of its control and I agree, but how a government responds to the plight of its citizens is completely in its control. Introducing a punitive carbon tax increase this week was the Government's choice. It points to its retrofitting programme as the great panacea for saving energy. Information I have received from South Dublin County Council states that of its current housing stock of 10,000 properties, approximately 9,000 need energy upgrades. It expects to have funding for 300 properties to be upgraded this year, and at this rate it will take 40 years to complete the programme. As energy prices go through the roof, so too will these tenants' heat for the next 40 years. On top of this, rents are spiralling, with an increase of 9% in the past three months. Rent in Dublin has increased by 100% since 2011. How are ordinary Dubliners meant to remain in their city?

This situation has not happened by accident. It has been manufactured by policies that rely on the private market to solve public problems. The Government has failed not only to supply the housing that is needed but also to adapt and change its failed policies. Again, Sinn Féin and my colleague Deputy Ó Broin will give the Government some solutions to fix the problems it created in the rental market. We would ban rent increases for three years, introduce a refundable tax credit to put one month's rent back into every renter's pocket, dramatically scale up the delivery of affordable cost rental homes, resource the RTB properly to enforce rent regulations and introduce real tenancies of indefinite durations. That is what Sinn Féin would do, and it is what the Government must do.

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