Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste talked about pay agreements and so on. Half the nurses in this State did not get the pay increase to which they were entitled that other public sector workers got in October. That is how we are treating nurses.

The issue of rents and housing is at crisis point. The Tánaiste said the Government is not doing enough. I put it to him that so many people are emigrating because they see no hope his Government will change track.

For 12 years, Fine Gael has been in government. For 12 years, individuals, be they nurses or teachers, have seen the housing crisis deteriorate. Homelessness figures have never been as high with 11,000 people homeless while rents and house prices have never been as high. We are seeing indicators of commencements dropping off significantly over the past number of months. For many years, we have been calling on the Government to introduce a rent freeze to make sure rents remain at their current level and put a month's rent back into renters' pockets. When we put this proposition to the Government first, the Tánaiste defended the income of landlords. He said that one person's rent is a landlord's income.

The point we are making is that this is not just a housing crisis; this is a crisis in health and education. The INMO has pointed out that 46% of graduates in a major hospital in Dublin are leaving. They are not staying. This is on the Government's watch. Can the Tánaiste give us some confidence that there will be a change of direction? Will it introduce a rent freeze for three years and will it stop these extortionate rents increasing year on year?

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