Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Listening to the Tánaiste, one would swear that this is some kind of big conspiracy to make Fianna Fáil and the Government look bad when they are doing everything that they can, but if it is, I am afraid that the RTB, the ESRI and loads more are in it with me. The Tánaiste may not want to admit it but the facts are the facts. The facts are that rents in this country under the Tánaiste's watch are a runaway train. The Tánaiste keeps coming in here and telling us that everything is under control but every year it gets worse.

At what point will the Government actually admit that its approach is not working? People out there cannot afford any more of these mistakes. Since the Tánaiste's Government came into office in 2020, it has cost renters an additional €4,200 a year. How much more will people have to pay for this failure and denial?

The Tánaiste says that housing is the biggest social issue we face. I agree with him but why does he not act like it is and do something about it? He is constantly asking for solutions. I know that there are bigger solutions around supply, and all of those things are absolutely necessary and I am not disregarding them, but given the consistently rising figures in homelessness, will he introduce a rent freeze, bring back the ban on no-fault evictions and introduce a rent register so that renters at least know if they are being ripped off?

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