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

I thank the Deputy for her question. As this is my last time to speak in the Chamber this year, I also want to thank the Ceann Comhairle, all colleagues in the House and particularly the staff of the Oireachtas, the members of the Press Gallery and others for all of the work they have done this year. I look forward to seeing everybody in the new year after a well-earned break.

I would like to confirm that Santa Claus has permission to enter Irish airspace and to our cross our borders on December 24 through December 25. I want to thank the IAA, INIS, the Department of agriculture and the Revenue Commissioners for allowing the necessary exemptions to occur.

While Christmas is a great time for most people, I appreciate that it is very stressful for many, not least those who will spend Christmas in emergency accommodation. There are about 13,000 people, including almost 4,000 children, in such circumstances at present. However, I do not believe the solution the Deputy is putting forward is the correct one. The Sinn Féin proposal is for a temporary eviction ban to run until March. I do not think this is a good idea because all that will happen is that we will end up with a glut of evictions in April, May and June, which will be even harder to deal with. We do not want that to be the case. We know from the last temporary eviction ban - one that I voted for and introduced as Tánaiste at the time - is that the number of people in emergency accommodation did not fall. It continued to rise during that period. Once the ban was removed, we had the glut of evictions which I referred to. I do not think the Deputy's solution is the right one. The right one is to continue to ramp up investment in social housing and cost rental so that people have secure tenancies. This is exactly what we are doing.

In the early part of her remarks, the Deputy mentioned that many people have a very bad experience with the private rental sector. Of course, this is true. Many people face high rents, are in substandard accommodation or may not have good landlords. However, it is very important in this House that we have evidenced-based debates, which are measured and balanced. What may be the lived experience for a lot of people or some people is not necessarily the lived experience for most people or the majority of people.

The Deputy mentioned the RTB survey in her remarks. I wonder if she has actually read the survey, which is a detailed survey of renters and landlords. It shows that 80% of private renters said that they are positive or very positive about renting their current property. They said that the median amount of rent they spend is 30% of their net income after tax. Academics say that the affordability threshold is 35%, so it is well under that figure. This has been unchanged since 2019 or 2020. This indicates that affordability has been stable since then. In addition, it shows that the median rent in 2022 was €1,350, which means that half pay more than that and half pay less.

The median rent in the country is roughly €1,350. Two people sharing pay just under €700 each. Perhaps most interestingly of all, of the more than 2,000 people who took part in an independent survey, 70% said their current rent was the same or lower than when they first moved into the property. That is what is happening on the ground. I do not deny for second that many people may have a lived experience that is different, but it is important the Deputy should acknowledge that survey because that is the reality for the majority of people.

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