Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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38. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to relieve the rental market crisis in County Meath. [28477/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In publishing Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Government has set out a practical and readily implementable set of actions to create a functioning and sustainable housing system. The Plan is available at the website .

The Plan is divided into five pillars, with each targeting a specific area of the housing system for attention.

Pillar 4 of the Plan commits to developing a comprehensive strategy for the rental sector in Q4 2016. The strategy will be structured around 4 key areas: security, standards, supply and services. In developing the strategy, it must be recognised that the rental market faces different challenges in different areas. For example, high rents and excess demand are features of the market in Dublin and parts of County Meath, whereas rents in many rural areas are lower and demand is weaker. These differences will be taken into account in the development of the strategy, which will lay out measures to address immediate issues affecting the supply, cost and accessibility of rental accommodation.

The strategy will also include measures to support the development of a viable and sustainable rental sector that can provide choice, quality, value and security for households and secure, attractive investment opportunities for rental providers.