Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has never been more expensive or stressful to be a renter than under this Government. For three long years, rents have risen to levels never thought possible. The latest Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report shows rents rising last year by almost 7%. Since the Government took office, rents have increased by a staggering 23%. This is €3,500 more per year for the average new renter. Indeed, in the Minister's county of Donegal, rents have skyrocketed by an astonishing 34% since he became Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This is almost €3,000 more per year in rent for a new renter in his constituency. In Dublin last year, the rent hike is costing an average €4,500 more per year for an average new renter. New rents in the capital are now so high that, on average, it costs €25,000 per year just to rent. How on earth does the Government expect the majority of working people to pay that?

The latest RTB report shows that things are going from bad to worse. What is happening in the private rental sector is a disaster. On the Government's watch, rents are not just unaffordable, they are out of control. Last week, Threshold published its important Generation Rent report. It shows that almost half of surveyed renters feel insecure, more than half of tenants are paying unaffordable rents and, quite worryingly, 37% of renters surveyed in rent pressure zones have been hit with rent hikes above the 2% cap. One woman interviewed by Threshold told it that, "Bills and rent cost 88% of my salary. Before food." Another renting parent told Threshold that, "The cost of living is gone through the roof. I am scared to have the radiator on for too many hours." Sarah Brett, a renter who was forced to move back in with her parents because the failure of her landlord to tackle damp and mould told Threshold that "the power imbalance between landlord and tenant makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen. This is your home but you can't really make it a home."

What has been the response of the often absent Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, to this crisis in the private rental sector? He has, and I kid you not, launched an online survey asking, among other people, renters what they think of the mess created by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Renters desperately need a break. They need an emergency ban on rent increases for three years, a full month's rent back in their pockets, real security of tenure and for the Government to massively increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy. In light of the latest RTB report and the skyrocketing level of rents for new renters, will the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine please tell us what the Government is going to do now to give these renters a break?

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