The housing Minister says he will introduce a package in the House next week to address the spiralling cost of rent. Reports yesterday pointed to splits between senior Ministers on the issue. Will the Taoiseach guarantee that we will see the package in 2016? Why has the housing Minister waited to put the package on the table in the week Deputies will head out the door for the Christmas break? Rents have increased year on year by nearly 12% throughout the State and nearly 15% in Cork city. In the Taoiseach's lifetime, has he ever witnessed more families homeless at Christmas? Kids are waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney in bed and breakfast accommodation or a hotel, some for the second year running.

According to the CSO, clear profits from rent on dwellings came to €1.6 billion in 2010 and rose to €2.7 billion by 2015, an increase of more than €1 billion. That is a large transfer of wealth from the many to the few, from people with no property to a comfortable or even wealthy minority. It is little wonder that the CEO of Ireland's largest corporate landlord operation, I-RES REIT, recently stated: "It's a great market. We've never seen rental increases like this in any jurisdiction that we're aware of."

The country is crying out for a Taoiseach who will say the people's pockets are more important than rent increases for landlords and that strict and stringent rent controls will be the order of the day. The country is crying out for a Taoiseach who will bang the table, turn calmly to landlords and tell them that they have bled the people for long enough and will not increase rents by one single penny more. The Taoiseach does not look like the man for the job. He is the leader of the landlord party. When he attends Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meetings, he must be practically tripping over all of the landlords present. His is the party of the capitalist market. The market is God and nothing must be done to offend the gods. We read in yesterday's edition of the The Irish Times: "Coveney's rental strategy faces resistance from within Fine Gael - Noonan and Donohoe among those opposed to interventions in the rental market". Will the Taoiseach confirm the date for the introduction of the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney's package on rents? Will he explain to the House the Government's failure to implement real rent controls?

The challenge in building an economy was to manage it properly in the interests of all the people.

I disagree profoundly with Deputy Barry when he said that people's pockets are more important - it is people's lives that are more important than rich men's pockets.

The balance to be struck is one of increased supply of houses and accommodation, and at the same time to maintain the balance between those who are tenants and those who supply accommodation for tenancy. That is a real challenge. Deputy Barry will recall in recent years the total collapse of the construction sector. The reason the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is deliberating on the issue is that it must be done properly. There was a period of public consultation. I do not know whether Deputy Barry supplied his views in writing but 70 written contributions were received from people throughout the country in response to the public invitation to do so.

We have the housing report.

The Minister will bring his rental strategy to Government next Tuesday and thereafter Deputy Barry will have the opportunity to reflect on, debate and discuss the detail of it. It is about striking the necessary balance. I admit that there are people under real pressure, many of whom have had to leave the accommodation they were in. The fundamental question that needs to be addressed is the supply of houses. Five pillars have been set out in a very comprehensive programme and it is now about moving on to implement it. Part of that is to have a sustainable rental strategy for individuals, people and families and at the same time to deal with the question of supply.

The Taoiseach speaks of balance. Thousands of families are homeless at Christmas time and the clear profit of landlords is up by more than €1 billion, yet the Taoiseach speaks of balance. That is really quite incredible.

Will the package that is published next Tuesday be debated in this House before we break for Christmas, because it should be? The Government currently has a Bill going through the House which seeks to limit to 19 the number of households a landlord might evict at any one time. That is scandalous. The number should be zero. I do not say a landlord should not be allowed to sell a property, but the law should state that if he or she does so, the tenant should remain in place. When the Bill went to the Seanad, Opposition Senators got it amended and reduced the number from 19 down to five. I understand the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, is seriously considering trying to increase the number back up from five to ten. Could the Taoiseach confirm or deny that is the case?

The Minister has made strenuous efforts to deal with the homeless in this city in particular, rough sleepers, those who have been homeless and have needed to stay in hostels and those who have had to move accommodation because of rent increases.

It is clearly not working.

People in some areas object to hostel accommodation and social housing being provided. One has the hypocrisy of parties coming in here shouting about the necessity for those things and at the same time objecting when proposals are made by city councillors and elected representatives to do that. The rental strategy will be brought to Cabinet next week. There will be a debate on the Bill going through the House and I look forward to hearing Deputy Barry's propositions for solutions to the issue of supply and the balance of maintaining the opportunity for people to have decent accommodation at decent rents.

The rent situation is a challenge. Everybody admits that. It will not be addressed without dealing with the question of supply, because the more supply one has the better the opportunity of choice for people.

There is plenty of supply.