Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

Daft's latest report says the average rent in County Kerry is up between 13.2% and 31.7% depending on the type of property compared with this time last year. The Government should be hanging its head in shame when it comes to its handling of the housing crisis.

We can go back to 2011 when the Government, in effect, stopped building social housing, through to the abolition of the town councils, which certainly did not help, and then on to the present day, when all of the various Government schemes seem to be making things worse rather than better. We have had some of the steepest rises in the country in Kerry. The average increase for a four-bedroom house is the highest in the State, having risen by more than one fifth compared with this time last year. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment has skyrocketed by 31.7%, which is a price hike second only to Deputy Conor D. McGuinness's constituency in Waterford. The story is not much better for those looking to buy a house. The average price in Kerry is now more than €311,000, a 15% increase compared with last year, and 5% since the previous quarter. Compared with pre-Covid house prices have surged by 55%. It almost beggars belief. It is unsustainable. We have been clear in Sinn Féin that rising rents should not be the punishment for Government failures, and people need to see this Government fix the crisis and not come up with more excuses.

The staff in Kerry County Council put huge effort into the tenant in situ scheme. There were three cases outstanding where sales were agreed, but they cannot complete those now. Those were for exceptional cases, involving quite vulnerable people, and the rug has been pulled out from under them, some of whom have been living in those houses for approximately 12 years. We have a plan. We need more social and affordable housing. We need a plan to freeze and reduce rents now, and reverse the restrictions recently introduced in the tenant in situ scheme. I call on Kerry's four Government and Government supporting TDs to make this a priority.

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