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

The report published this morning by the Banking and Payment Federation of Ireland, BPFI, confirms what we already know, which is that the housing policy of the Government is failing abysmally. The BPFI analysis is stark. Since 2010, rents in Ireland have soared by a whopping 82% compared with an EU average of 18% for the same period. This rip-off of Ireland's renters has happened on the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Crazy rents are robbing tenants of any hope of getting a deposit together to buy their own homes and is trapping them in an extortionate nightmare.

Today’s report also highlights that housing supply is nowhere near keeping up with population growth. It states our population is growing at three times the rate of housing supply. Since 2011, the State's population has grown by 500,000 but only 130,000 housing units were added in this time. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been getting it wrong on for more than a decade and they are still getting it wrong now. Serious concerns are also raised regarding the decline in housing commencements throughout the State. In the middle of a housing emergency, the rate of housing construction is falling. Things are bad now but unless the Government brings the urgency and ambition required, things will get a whole lot worse.

We have repeatedly told the Government that its targets for social and affordable housing are far too low. Its targets are a drop in the ocean and it is not even meeting them. It is not just Sinn Féin saying this; it is housing organisations on the front line of this emergency and officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage who recently stated that the Government has seriously underestimated its housing targets.

Sadly, many of our young people now look to a life beyond Ireland. The Central Statistics Office tells us nearly half of renters are considering emigrating because of the crippling cost of living. Many mothers and fathers will spend this Christmas watching their sons and daughters pack their bags for Australia and Canada. Is it any wonder when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael remain wedded to policies that put cuckoo funds and wealthy investors above young people's need to get a decent start? This is so wrong. We need our young people here at home. We need their talent, energy and ideas. What else can we expect of them when they cannot put a roof over their heads in Ireland?

What other option do they really have, when the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, says that we do not have a housing emergency? Deimhníonn tuarascáil an BPFI dáiríreacht na héigeandála tithíochta. Is féidir le hAirí oifigí a mhalartú mas mian leo. Chun difríocht a dhéanamh i ndáiríre, tá athrú polasaithe tithíochta fiúntach ag teastáil go práinneach.

Today’s report lays it out plainly. It turns out that, despite the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, lecturing our young people, in fact the grass is greener elsewhere, especially for renters. There has been an 82% rent hike in Ireland versus an average of 18% across the EU. That is some punch in the gut for renters. It is a rip-off on a massive scale and yet the Government does nothing about it. Does the Minister now accept that it is time for the Government to intervene decisively, to put a month’s rent back into renters’ pockets through a refundable tax credit and finally to ban rent increases for three years?

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