I presume the Taoiseach is familiar with the research produced by Daft.ie - Crisis in the rental market worsens. An extraordinary set of figures have been produced which go to the heart of undermining social cohesion in our society, as well as causing wider problems with inward investment, preparing for it and the quality of life for many people in our cities and across the country. In short, average rents in Dublin have soared to an all-time high over the past 12 months to €1,350. Average rents nationwide are at €1,077. In Dublin, rents have gone up 12%. In Louth, they have gone up by 15%, in Meath by 15.8% and in Kildare by 13%. The whole commuter belt has seen significant rent increases. In Cork, they have gone up by 14%, in Galway by 11%, Limerick by 13% and Waterford by 11%.

These are the largest rent increases ever recorded by Daft.ie since reports began in 2002. This is an extraordinary crisis facing many people in our society. Over the past several years, the Government has been bereft of any response to this growing and worsening crisis. The impacts of it are stark and disastrous. Ronan Lyons, the economist in Trinity College Dublin who compiled the report, made the point that it is disastrous for social cohesion and Irish competitiveness. With the public pay and general pay rise demands, much of this is connected to the costs that people have in their everyday lives. For people working in Dublin and in other cities as well as elsewhere, rent is now the most significant cost facing them. This is feeding into the demands on the pay side which will feed into our competitiveness.

The big issue coming out of Brexit, where there might be some silver lining, is our capacity to attract inward investment. That is now problematic because of the housing situation, the high level of rents and our ability to make our cities attractive to bringing in investment from such financial services companies.

It is also exacerbating the homelessness crisis because the Kelly reforms, if I may use that phrase, have not worked. In fact, many landlords turfed out existing tenants, brought in new tenants and dramatically increased the rents. Therefore, homelessness represents a further outcome of the rental situation. We are now in the incredible position in which many young couples are trapped in the rental market. It is now actually cheaper to buy a house and service the mortgage than to rent a house. However, owing to the Central Bank rules and so on, many young couples are trapped in the rental market and cannot save the amount necessary to take out a mortgage. What does the Government propose to do? The report points to the need to deal with construction costs, particularly in the apartment sector, as one way of dealing with this.

There is no doubt but that this is a problem. It is a serious problem that is exacerbated by the circumstances of recent years. There has been an inadequate supply of housing, and that is why the central focus of the housing action plan being brought forward and implemented now by the Minister responsible for housing is to increase the supply of houses. This will create more opportunities for people to get accommodation and, therefore, it will address the problem of increasing rents, which represents a real problem for many.

It is accepted that there are acute pressures in the rental market now. I have outlined one of the focus areas of the five pillars of the housing programme being put together by the Minister. The pillars are to help families to meet their needs, to deal with affected individuals, from rough sleepers and homeless people to those in hotel rooms and bed and breakfasts, and to help young couples who are not able to avail of an opportunity to buy their own house.

I have already said in the House that the private rental sector strategy will be brought forward by the Minister responsible for housing in the next few weeks. He has already started a serious consultation process involving a wide range of people dealing with the housing and rental sectors. They have been invited to attend and contribute to the strategy. The focus will be on four key areas. The first is security. Greater security will be afforded to landlords and tenants. The second is supply, the objective being to maintain existing levels of rental stock and encourage investment in additional supply. The third area is standards, which involves improving the quality and management of rental accommodation. The fourth area is services, and it involves broadening and strengthening the role and powers of the RTB so it can provide its services more effectively and empower both tenants and landlords. We will see a number of improvements in place before the year's end that will have to be legislatively based. There will be new measures to ensure tenancies remain in situ where a landlord proposes to sell more than 20 units in a single development. We have had experience of this already. There are to be enhanced enforcement and dispute-resolution powers for the RTB and revised standards of accommodation in the rental sector, with new regulations to be finalised in the next couple of weeks.

The overarching objective of the strategy for the rental sector, which will be in place by the end of the year, is to increase supply and support the development of a stable, strong and viable renal sector offering more choice for households and investment opportunities for providers and reflecting both the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.

What about rent control?

It is not today or yesterday that this began.

The Deputy is right.

The Government of which the Taoiseach has been a member for the past two or three years has been dithering on the rent issue. There has been nothing coming from it. The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, was with the former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly-----

Fianna Fáil opposed rent control.

Could we have order, please?

The key point is that the Daft.ie report identifies the cost of building apartments as a major problem on the supply side. It is stated the cost is way beyond our incomes and the costs in other societies. The cost of building is one aspect that the Government has not dealt with.

It is a significant factor in the restricted supply of apartment developments and so on across the country.

Another issue is that of bringing vacant properties back into use. According to the CSO's preliminary census, 200,000 houses in the private and public sectors across the country are vacant. It is an incredible figure. There is no strategy to incentivise their return to the market. These are practical issues on which to focus but in respect of which nothing has been done.

I thank the Deputy, but his time is up.

Why has it taken so long to have a comprehensive private rental strategy, given the problems of recent years?

I absolutely agree with the Deputy.

Surprise, surprise.

That is obvious.

As Deputy Micheál Martin said, it is not today or yesterday that this began. He is right. Remember Priory Hall. Remember the pyrite homes.

I do.

Remember the ghost estates. Remember the 100,000 people who left the country because of the collapse of the financial services and because of the collapse of the construction sector. That is why, and that is where it happened. A Tánaiste stood over here and said that we needed no more taxes because the construction sector was going to drive the whole lot for us - remember that? - and stunted the market completely. That is the reason for it and the Deputy knows that very well.

If one cannot deal with supply, one cannot deal with the upward pressure on rents. I agree that we need more landlords and tenants. We have to do something in respect of the cost of building. That is why the Minister put up €200 million for the opening up of sites that are currently not accessible to local authorities or private builders.

That is a different matter to do with enabling, but this is about cost.

If one builds apartments, one must build them all before one can sell them. It is different than the traditional activity of building 100 houses and selling them on as one goes, making a profit and continuing on with that.

The rental strategy will be in place before Christmas. We had a Cabinet sub-committee meeting just this week. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is working very hard to introduce it and I hope that everybody will give his or her views. We need security for the tenants. We also need responsibility for the landlords and longer-term leases so that people can have that sense of security for the time ahead.

What about rent control?