David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At a time when rents are at record levels the Tánaiste's Government has come up with a new solution: to hike them up even further. Its proposal to effectively remove rent controls from new tenancies signals disaster for renters, especially young people, students and their families and anyone who moves to a new rental home. The reality of the Government's plan was always clear, but now it is not just the Opposition saying it. Despite all the spin and bluster from Government and the Tánaiste over the last few weeks, the Central Bank has said the Government's rent hike Bill will be "painful" for tenants. It said "...the social costs and the pain felt by households is not even...". This will hurt young people and their ability to save to buy their own home. This will hurt students and their families who are paying already extortionate rents and this will hurt ordinary working people who find themselves stuck in an ever-spiralling rental trap. The Tánaiste's Government's plan is a green light for massive rent increases every year. His Government spent a full week attempting to disguise the fact its plan shafts renters. It just could not be straight with people, so in a blizzard of confusion we had Ministers tripping over themselves to contradict each other. The Tánaiste declared in this House last week that "We will be taking specific measures to support students; do not worry we will, because we have their backs". Then the Minister, Deputy Browne, confirmed the reality there will be no exemptions or special protections for students in the private rental sector or any renters who will be faced with massive rent hikes. The Tánaiste keeps saying this is a balanced plan but nothing could be further from the truth. The Government cannot promise vulture funds that they can increase prices while pretending to renters that rents will not go up. We know who is going to pay and it is renters, so let us be honest that Government housing policy has always been about investors and giving vulture and cuckoo funds free rein to squeeze rents out of hardworking people.

To make matters worse, supply is falling off a cliff. The Government missed its housing targets last year, it is nowhere near close to meeting them this year and now the Central Bank has again revised down its estimates for new completions this year to barely above 30,000, which is far below the target of 40,000. Not only will the Government miss its targets this year, the Central Bank believes it will miss them next year, the year after that and the year after that. All of this is happening in a cost-of-living crisis. Rents are going up at the same time as groceries, insurance and broadband and at a rate far higher than incomes have increased. This is putting a burden which people simply cannot take.

Despite all this confusion there is one absolute certainty, which is that rents will go up and the Government will remove one of the few protections renters have. Rent controls will not apply to new-build homes. They will not apply to existing homes after a renter moves out voluntarily. They will not apply to off-campus student accommodation despite the Tánaiste saying the Government has students' backs. The average tenancy is just over three years long, meaning very soon almost all renters will be hurt by the Government’s decisions this week. They will hurt tens of thousands of people every year. They will lock families into overcrowded accommodation for fear that if they move their rents will skyrocket. There is absolutely no guarantee these changes will increase supply. I believe rents need to be brought down. The Tánaiste and his Government obviously believe rents should go up. Of course the rent pressure zones should have been extended. That should have been done on day one. The Government should scrap all the rest of its absolutely crazy proposals that will increase the price of rent.

When is the Tánaiste’s Government going to stop punishing renters? Does he now accept that rents will go up as a result of the Government’s decision this week? Will he take the opportunity to correct the record of the Dáil and accept students who live off campus will not be protected under the proposals and will be some of the first to be affected?

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