Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This Government has been in office since 2020. We need to see action on this. Week in, week out, we hear the Government dismissing constructive proposals from the Opposition. It dismissed restricting no-fault evictions, freezing rents, and the idea of linking increases to inflation. It dismissed increasing the new-build target to 50,000 homes per year years, but it has never explained why it was dismissing these constructive proposals that could make a difference. Instead, it resorts to explaining and re-explaining plans. It refers to ineffective measures like the renters' tax credit, which is only a drop in the ocean when we see the real figures on average rents. With respect, the plans the Minister has outlined are not working. The Government needs to take more urgent and ambitious action. I ask again; when will the Government increase the target to the necessary figure of 50,000 new builds per year? The Government has been promising to do this for months. When will the Government enact renters' rights legislation that will provide really meaningful protections for renters?

See this speech in context