There was an announcement by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage that there are going to be changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 in order to replace rent pressure zones and the 4% limit with a review based on the consumer price index. Does the Tánaiste agree this is not good enough given the already unsustainable rents people are paying? In the rent pressure zones, we have seen 20% increases over the past four years, with people paying €2,000, €2,500 and €3,000 a month, which is completely unaffordable. Is it not time to ensure that no further rent increases are allowed? I remind the Tánaiste that we already have backdated, suspended rent reviews from the Covid period. Do we not need to institute a complete rent freeze for the foreseeable future and bring in rent controls that will set rents at affordable levels? By the way, from what I can see, the proposed amendments will do nothing for the setting of new rents on build-to-rent apartments and so on-----

The Tánaiste to reply.

-----which can be set at any level whatsoever and will almost certainly be set at the same unsustainable levels they are now.

As the Deputy knows, in the rent pressure zones, rents can only increase year on year by between zero and 4%. We are going to change that now so that prices are linked to the harmonised index of consumer prices - inflation, essentially - and that will mean rent increases, depending on inflation, of probably no more than 0.7% or just above 1%, which is where inflation is running at the moment. I think that will be welcomed by most people who are renting. One thing we need to bear in mind, and it may not be popular to say it but it is the truth, is that the vast majority of people who are landlords - I am not one of them, by the way - are not investment funds or wealthy people. One person's rent is another person's mortgage. There are many people who own houses or apartments and the rent they receive for them barely covers their mortgages. For some people, that rental income is their pension and it is the only pension they have.

Thank you, Tánaiste. I am moving on to the Regional Group.

Doing what the Deputy proposes, which is just having flat rents, would mean some people cannot pay their mortgage and some would have their pension cut.