Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The only thing I have said about landlords - and I stand over it and I have made this very clear - is that if there are any tax concessions for landlords in the budget, there should also be tax concessions for renters. That is what I said and what I meant, and I stand over that comment. If there are concessions for landlords in the budget, there should also be tax concessions for renters. That is what I said and I stand over it.

Any specific decisions are a matter for budget day, not today. There will be meetings today and over the weekend to finalise the budget package. What I will say to the Deputy, and it is important that we are frank and honest with people about what is happening in our country and around the world, is that there are bigger trends at play here, not least demographics and the cost of building new housing. North of the Border, where the Deputy's party has been in office now for a very long time, house prices have also gone up. They have gone up by 20% in two years and rents are rising as well. That is a place where there is a Sinn Féin housing minister and finance minister. It would be very easy for me to repeat the kind of charges the Deputy makes against us-----

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