As the Tánaiste knows, yesterday's Daft.ie report showed a shocking rise in rental prices throughout the country. Nationally, rents went up by 10% in 20 counties, with 20 counties seeing double-digit increases. My county, Donegal, has seen the highest rise nationally, with rents increasing by an astonishing 24.3%. Something has to be done. This is not acceptable and is certainly not sustainable. Week after week, I have people in my constituency office who are unable to afford to buy or to rent. Where are they supposed to go? There are no long-term rentals as short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, are taking over the rental market. This needs to be addressed immediately. Many families in Donegal are already facing a devastating mica crisis and are now being forced to face a rental crisis. Have they not been through enough at this stage? The rental crisis is not just a Dublin problem, but one throughout the country. What will happen about it?

There are two aspects to the rental crisis we are facing. One is affordability and the other is availability. When a property goes for rent, within a very short period there could be hundreds of emails from people who are looking for somewhere to rent. On affordability, we have brought in a law that limits rent increases to no more than 2% a year. That has been important for many existing tenants, but the real underlying problem is one of availability. The Deputy will know as well as I do that people are leaving the rental market. A certain amount is being replaced by cost rental, led by the Government, and a certain amount is being replaced by funds, but those everyday mom-and-pop landlords, as they are often referred to, are leaving in their droves. We will need to consider what policies are necessary to turn that around. They may not be politically popular but they are necessary.