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

Yesterday, I raised the need to introduce an emergency ban on rent increases for three years. Even though workers and families are being hammered by relentless rent hikes, the Taoiseach again dismissed that call. Over the 12 years that Fine Gael has been in Government, life has become increasingly hard for renters. In that time, rents have more than doubled. The latest Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report simply crystallises the lived reality for renters. They are ripped off every single month. New rents are up nearly 12% this year. This is the highest annual increase since RTB records began. Even the news for existing tenants is bad. Their rents are up 5% across the State and 5.5% here in Dublin.

This has not come out of the blue. Since this Government came into office, the regular reports from the RTB and daft.iehave shown rents going in one direction, and that is up. What does this mean in real terms? Since the Government took office, across the State people must find, on average, an additional €3,800 to pay for a new rental. In Dublin, the price to renters for a new rental is an additional €4,700. Where on earth do renters, fleeced for over a decade and now living through a cost-of-living crisis, find that money? These extortionate rents mean that many young people are unable to save for a mortgage deposit. This sets them back in a very big way.

We also have a large increase in young adults living at home with their parents. Rents are too high and so the journey to home ownership has become increasingly difficult, impossibly difficult for many. According to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, nearly half of first-time buyers are now over the age of 35. The average mortgage taken out by first-time buyers has surged. It stands at €315,000 for new builds. Here in Dublin, the average mortgage taken out by first-time buyers stands at nearly €500,000 for a new build and over €387,000 for existing builds. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree this is crazy stuff.

The reality is that first-time buyers are saddled with higher debt and higher monthly repayments. Under this Government, home ownership is becoming more difficult, more distant and more expensive. All the while, the Government continues to set affordable housing targets that are far too low and keeps missing those targets. Tá sé in am d’athrú ceart i gcomhar cíosóirí. Caithfidh an Rialtas cosc a chur ar arduithe cíosa ar feadh trí bliana ar bhonn práinne. We desperately need a change in direction. We need now to give this generation the chance that it deserves. The Government must finally step up and tackle extortionate rent increases. The big question that renters are now asking is how bad it has to get before the Government intervenes with decisive action. When will the penny drop that an emergency ban on rent increases is required to give squeezed, ripped-off renters the space and breathing room they need to build a decent future? Renters are pushed to the brink. I am asking the Taoiseach to reconsider his position. I am asking him, again, to ban rent increases for three years.

See this speech in context