Yesterday's daft.ie report showed rents at an all-time high. Apparently, a Minister believes there are plenty of places to rent at a fraction of the cost. Apparently, the advice the Government is now offering to renters facing record increases is to hunt for bargains in other parts of the city. This is of little benefit to those in the rental market who are losing tenancies as landlords seek to renovate or sell, because they have to look for places to rent at full market prices. Even those in rent pressure zones are being put under huge pressure by landlords to accept increases above the 4% threshold.

The Government has repeatedly promised that the powers of the Residential Tenancies Board would be strengthened. This is an emergency, certainly for those desperately anxious to keep a roof over their heads. There is no sense of urgency from Government. When will the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill be published?

There are two pieces of legislation to strengthen the Residential Tenancies Board. Both are priority legislation and I hope to bring them to Cabinet in the coming weeks to publish as quickly as possible. The daft.ie report tells us what we already know: that rents are rising. However, it is not as complete as the data we get from the Residential Tenancies Board, which is a much larger dataset. Also, the daft.ie report gives the asking price and not the actual rents registered.

The third quarter report from the RTB indicates that the rents registered are lower. Between the second quarter and the third quarter the RTB residential rent index shows an increase in the number of tenancies registered. The point being made yesterday is that it is not clear from the data if the increase in the average rent prices being asked is as a result of new tenancies being created or if it is as a result of other factors in the market. We are working on that with the RTB. The priority legislation will give the board the tools to be able to drill down into the data more quickly.

Does the Minister have any idea when?

The Minister of State said yesterday that there are rental properties available in our cities at a fraction of the cost quoted in the headlines. I agree that there are, if people are prepared to share a converted hot press with four other people. The Minister has just told the House that the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill will be published this session. However, will the Bill recognise that the rent pressure zones are not working and propose real rent controls, or will the Government yet again be dancing a jig to the landlords' tune?

The RTB price index reports for the first three quarters of 2017 show a dampening effect on rent inflation when compared with rent inflation in Dublin in 2016. When considering rent inflation, it is important not to look at national inflation but at inflation in the RPZs. As was stated in the Dáil yesterday, we do not yet have 12 months' data from the RTB for Dublin, all of which is an RPZ. When we have that information, we will be better able to understand what is happening with RPZs and how effectively they are working. Of course, we have recognised some deficiencies, for example, substantial refurbishment being used as a loophole to get around the rent cap. I am addressing that in the priority legislation I mentioned to Deputy Howlin. There will be legal consequences for landlords who try to get around that law.