Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate that a lot of renters in Ireland are paying very high rents and that a lot of people who are renting do not want to rent. They want to be able to own their own home. The Government understands that lived experience. We do not agree with the Deputy's proposed policy of an across-the-board rent freeze for three years precisely because we think it would be counterproductive. It would reduce the amount of supply, reduce the number of rental properties available and leave more people with no place to rent, and would probably, therefore, lead to a rise in homelessness.

That is why we do not agree with the Deputy's proposal.

What can we do for renters? We can increase supply of places to rent. That would mean fewer people who are homeless and lower rents in the round. We do that by ramping up the supply of places to rent. We need more public and private homes and apartments. We do that by investing in social housing, in particular. I am proud to lead a Government that is building more new social housing every year than any year since the 1970s. I am proud to lead a Government that has made cost-rental housing a reality, whereby the Government provided rental properties for those who do not qualify for social housing. We are ramping that up, and will ramp it up a lot more over the next few years.

Social housing is something that benefits everyone. It does not just take people off the housing lists; it also frees up rental properties for other people to rent and exerts a downward pressure on rents and property prices. It is good to see that in the past ten years, the number of people who rent social housing from the State, and the number of families who benefit from social housing, has increased by 40,000. The figures have also increased in percentage terms. That blasts the myth from the fake left that somehow this Government or the previous one did not believe in or was not committed to social housing. Raw numbers, percentages - any way you want to look at it, there are more people who benefit from social housing today than was the case when the census was done in 2011.

The other thing we are doing for renters is the rent credit. It will be €750 next year and is €500 this year. Bear in mind, that is per renter and not per property. A couple sharing an apartment, who are both working and paying income tax, can claim €1,500 back. That is roughly a month's rent back into their pockets. If three people are sharing, the figure will be €2,250. I encourage people to take up that rent credit. There was a pretty good take-up last year, but not so much this year. People can claim it three years in arrears and I would encourage them to do that. Of course, parents can claim it on behalf of their children if they are students who are renting. That is making a real and practical difference for renters.

In terms of housing and being able to buy, I remind the Deputy that we are seeing record numbers of first-time buyers in Ireland, the highest we have seen in 16 years. That is encouraging. I want it to be a lot more. That did not happen by accident. It is because of increased supply, in part because we have suspended development levies, something Sinn Féin opposed. It is also because of the help to buy scheme, where we give hard-working young people their income tax for the past three years back so they can afford a deposit, something Sinn Féin opposes. It is because of schemes like first home, which bridges the gap between the amount the bank will lend you and the cost of the house. Again, that is something Sinn Féin opposes because Sinn Féin is actually against homeownership and that is the truth.

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