Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

The policy the Government is now pursuing when it comes to rent is a cynical attempt to drive rents even higher for tens of thousands of people already struggling to keep a roof over their heads. There is no denying that the Minister has chosen to side with corporate landlords, institutional investors and developers and to throw renters under the bus. I want to see RPZs - those modest protections - extended to the 17% of tenancies not currently covered. We know what will follow, however, because the Minister has told us. This one protection that renters have will be gutted and replaced with chaos. It is a reckless policy. The Minister can shake his head, but it is a reckless policy and dangerous. The Government is opening the door to a surge of evictions, especially for renters with pre-2022 Part 4 tenancies. Many of these tenancies are due to expire and what the Minister is proposing - in the round and not the Bill in front of us - gives landlords every incentive to remove tenants and jack up the rent. It gives renters little to no protection at all.

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach is wringing his hands, the Tánaiste briefs the media and the Minister seems to be scratching his head. It has been blunder after blunder all week. He botched the announcement, forgot to mention the RPZ extension at the beginning and changed the line three times in three days. One minute, he was waiting until March and the next it had always been his plan to move now. The real plan, and the only consistent thread in this mess, is to push up rents. Every single renter will be hit eventually - maybe not today but soon. The average tenancy, and the Minister knows this, lasts 3.4 years, so all this talk of six years is not fooling anybody. Anyone who moves for work, study or family reasons runs the risk of being fleeced. It is adding fuel to the fire already raging across the State. In quarter 1 of this year, as the Minister knows, average rents across the State rose by 7.3%. In County Waterford, the situation is far worse. It is far above the average, with rents having gone up by an eye-watering 12.1%.

These are not just numbers. Real people are being priced out of their communities, forced to move, forced into debt or forced into the trauma of homelessness. What happens when people are pushed out of secure housing? Well, we see it all around the State. Almost 15,500 people are officially recorded as homeless, but we know the truth is that there are many more. At the current rate, child homelessness will hit 5,000 by the end of September. It is the most visceral indicator of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's systemic failure in housing. I would really like to know how they handle the shame of it. I do not mean to personalise it, but I would really like to know how those supporting this Government and its predecessors handle the shame of 5,000 children being homeless by the end of the summer if the trends continue, and all the signs are they will.

This approach will hammer healthcare workers, students, construction workers, gardaí, pensioners, those on HAP and those whose modest wish is that, someday, they might be able to begin putting some money away to be able to afford a home of their own. It will hand another massive pay day to vulture funds, developers and the big landlords who already dominate the rental market. Taken together, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and some of their Independents have had 12 years to get this right. In that time, we have seen spiralling rents, broken promises and the shame of increasing homelessness. It is time to say "Enough". While I welcome the extension of the RPZs, the Minister should leave it at that. It is enough. Let that be the positive move this Government makes and do not hollow out those modest protections any further.

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