Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

I join others in expressing sympathies to all those affected by the school shooting in Austria of which we have just heard news.

Back in February, someone in the Government was briefing the media about a proposed end to rent pressure zones. For years, the Government refused to contemplate designating the whole country as a rent pressure zone. Yesterday morning, the future of the entire RPZ scheme was in question. We were hearing it on the airwaves from the Taoiseach's representatives. However, by bedtime last night, in a screeching U-turn, we learned the whole country is now to become subject to rent pressure laws. Perhaps we should start calling him the Grand Old Duke of Cork because he led his men up to the top of the hill before marching them all the way back down again. It is just a mercy, I suppose - a mercy for renters - that they were not sent over the top.

It really seems the Taoiseach is making it up as he goes along. As Deputy Sheehan, our housing spokesperson, said, there are more holes in the policy announced today than there were in the Titanic. It is a panicked pronouncement. It may be he is doing this because he is responding to the latest findings that house-building contracted during May and we are seeing a fall in activity by Irish construction firms. None of this is the fault of renters. Rather, we can see an ominous slowdown in construction largely due to the sort of kite-flying we have heard from many in Fianna Fáil, suggesting that developers might get tax breaks if they wait a few months until the next budget. In fact, what we are seeing are policies from the Government that appear to be ad hoc, are sowing fear among renters and are sowing uncertainty among investors.

Meanwhile, each month, more and more people, and more and more children, are finding themselves homeless. We know that eviction from the private sector is a key driver of increased homelessness. We are all hearing today from renters in desperate fear. I heard this morning from a constituent in her 40s that she is absolutely devastated by the announcement on RPZ changes. She fears her landlord will terminate her lease and she believes she will have to leave Ireland because she cannot afford €2,500 to €3,000 per month in rent. Her story is not unique. Her fear is reflected across the country because renters in Ireland know renting is like a lottery or, more accurately, a casino.

The wins are rare and somebody else is always making a quick buck. The Taoiseach's party and Fine Gael have been in government together for the best part of ten years and things have only got worse for those renting or seeking to buy an affordable home. We all agree that supply is the biggest problem, yet instead of taking urgent steps to address this, we are seeing this extremely vague and opaque policy that the Taoiseach says will strengthen renters' rights but which, as we are hearing from renters and those who work day to day on the front line assisting and supporting renters, will have the opposite effect, while there is uncertainty among investors as to precisely how they are to be incentivised to build the homes we know are so desperately needed. We all know that when rents go up, people can no longer afford to pay them and will, therefore, face being evicted and homelessness. What safeguards is the Taoiseach going to put in place for those likely to be "constructively evicted" by landlords anxious to hike rents under these new rules?

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