Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps he is taking to support renters in Roscommon and Galway facing very high rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65682/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Affordability is at the heart of Government’s housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025 – 2030. The plan reinforces and expands the range of existing measures being implemented by Government to tackle the issues of supply and affordability, thereby supporting the increased provision of new homes to purchase and rent.

In addition to a keen focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction, the plan provides for an expanded remit for the Land Development Agency, work to further extend the First Home and Help to Buy Schemes to 2030, an increase in affordable tenancies and an expanded local authority delivered starter homes for purchase programme.

The Programme for Government commits to build more cost rental units through the Land Development Agency, local authorities and Cost Rental Equity Loan funding to Approved Housing Bodies, embedding cost rental as a category of tenure on a permanent basis.

Under the Cost Rental model, targeted at middle-income households, rents for homes are set to cover only the cost of financing, building, managing and maintaining the homes. State subventions can be used in order to reduce the initial capital cost and make this starting cost rent more affordable. The Cost Rental system offers prospective tenants the advantages of security of tenure, rents which are at least 25% below the rents charged for similar dwellings in the same areas and minimal rent increases, as rents can only increase in line with inflation.

To qualify for a Cost Rental home, the applicant must be able to demonstrate that their annual net household income does not exceed €66,000 in Dublin and €59,000 elsewhere, that they are not in receipt of any social housing supports, that they do not already own a property, that their household size matches the size of the property advertised, that they can afford to pay the cost rent for the home and that their household has only entered one application for a specific Cost Rental property. More information is available at

On 10 June 2025, the Government approved stronger tenancy protections to provide greater certainty for the rental sector, including the introduction of a national rent control. From 1 March 2026, a national rent control will be introduced to all tenancies, which will limit rent increases for properties, other than new build apartments, to inflation according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) up to a maximum of 2%. For new build apartments, rent increases will be capped at the level of inflation (CPI), aimed at supporting investment in the construction of new apartments. These changes are being introduced to promote greater investment in the rental market and to increase the supply of properties.

As an interim measure, the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025 was signed into law on 19 June 2025. The Act came into operation on 20 June 2025 to immediately extend and expand the operation of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) to cover the entire country until 28 February 2026. This ensured that all tenancies nationally were protected from rent increases exceeding 2% pending the introduction of national rent controls in 2026. Further legislation is being prepared to give effect to the policy proposals recently announced by Government, to regulate rent increases nationally and to introduce stronger protection for renters.

Further Government measures introduced to support renters include the increase in the tax credit for renters under Budget 2025 to a maximum of €1,000 for each renter in a household. Budget 2026 extends the Rent Tax Credit, which was due to expire at the end of 2025, for a further three years, to the end of 2028.

I will work with my colleagues in Government to implement changes as necessary for the sector during this Government's term. My Department and the RTB keep the operation of the RTA and the residential rental sector under constant review and will work to ensure that an appropriately balanced policy and legislative framework is maintained, and future changes will build on recently strengthened tenancy protections and supports.