Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé go deas an Cathaoirleach a fheiceáil i mbándearg inniu.

I want to highlight the issue raised in local media in Clare, in The Clare Echo.Rent price increases in Clare are currently among the highest in the country. Clare has seen the second highest increase in rent prices in the entire Republic. According to the Residential Tenancies Board, there has been a 16.1% increase since this time last year. Each quarter, there has been an increase of 5.1%. This is a major issue. I am aware that a great housing initiative was launched recently but it takes a long time to build houses. In the interim, there are many things we can do. In Dublin, as early as December 2016, we heard talk about rent pressure zones and restrictions on Airbnb. Under the rules introduced in July 2019, a 90-day cap was imposed on the renting of full houses through Airbnb in rent pressure zones. We have not seen that ruled out anywhere else. It is time that we considered this measure implemented in areas such as Clare and Leitrim, which has seen the highest increase in rents in the country. Who does not want to live in Clare and Leitrim, two great counties? The prices are becoming ridiculous and really unaffordable. Where I live in north Clare, around Ennistymon and Lahinch, you can find perhaps one place online to rent, whereas 80 whole houses may be rentable through Airbnb. It is a serious issue. If rectified, it could help us to deal with the housing crisis in the short term while we work towards building all the new houses we hope to build. The local authorities will need to be resourced if we are to do this. Issues arise in this regard even in Dublin, where rent pressure zones and regulations concerning Airbnb have been introduced. The regulations are not fully implemented because of a lack of resources in the councils. Therefore, we need rent pressure zones rolled out nationwide and we need the local authorities to be properly resourced to deal with them. People are living in vans and are unable to work. We cannot get staff in places in north Clare because there is nowhere to live, yet there are many houses available through Airbnb that could be homes.

Ó thaobh an mhí atá ann do mhná na hÉireann agus ó thaobh muid féin a chosaint, caithfimid seiceáil. We have to be breast-aware. We have to check our breasts and do so regularly. It is not just an issue for middle-aged women; as Senator Ahearn said, it is also an issue for younger women. We need to talk about this and raise awareness. That is the whole idea of this month. I am not wearing a lot of pink today but I am pink on the inside and have become very breast aware. I was not until recently. Given my age, I probably should have been checking about ten years ago. I have been lucky so far but breast cancer has touched everybody. Everybody has lost somebody to breast cancer in this country. Many women have been resilient and have managed to fight back, but awareness is always the first step, and prevention is always better than cure. I welcome the support from the men on the committee, who have worn pink. I thank Senator McGreehan, who raised the issue. Half the population of the nation is female. We all need to support women in being breast aware this month.