It has never been more expensive or stressful to be a renter than under this Government. For three long years, rents have risen to levels never thought possible. The latest Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report shows rents rising last year by almost 7%. Since the Government took office, rents have increased by a staggering 23%. This is €3,500 more per year for the average new renter. Indeed, in the Minister's county of Donegal, rents have skyrocketed by an astonishing 34% since he became Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This is almost €3,000 more per year in rent for a new renter in his constituency. In Dublin last year, the rent hike is costing an average €4,500 more per year for an average new renter. New rents in the capital are now so high that, on average, it costs €25,000 per year just to rent. How on earth does the Government expect the majority of working people to pay that?

The latest RTB report shows that things are going from bad to worse. What is happening in the private rental sector is a disaster. On the Government's watch, rents are not just unaffordable, they are out of control. Last week, Threshold published its important Generation Rent report. It shows that almost half of surveyed renters feel insecure, more than half of tenants are paying unaffordable rents and, quite worryingly, 37% of renters surveyed in rent pressure zones have been hit with rent hikes above the 2% cap. One woman interviewed by Threshold told it, "Bills and rent cost 88% of my salary. Before food." Another renting parent told Threshold, "The cost of living is gone through the roof. I am scared to have the radiator on for too many hours." Sarah Brett, a renter who was forced to move back in with her parents because of the failure of her landlord to tackle damp and mould, told Threshold that "the power imbalance between landlord and tenant makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen. This is your home but you can't really make it a home."

What has been the response of the often absent Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, to this crisis in the private rental sector? He has, and I kid you not, launched an online survey asking, among other people, renters what they think of the mess created by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Renters desperately need a break. They need an emergency ban on rent increases for three years, a full month's rent back in their pockets, real security of tenure and for the Government to massively increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy. In light of the latest RTB report and the skyrocketing level of rents for new renters, will the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine please tell us what the Government is going to do now to give these renters a break?

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue because housing - the need for people to be able to own their home and the need for people to have affordable access to rental homes - is the number one issue for the Government. This is why the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Government have introduced the Housing for All strategy, which puts in place a very radical set of policies aimed at tackling the core factor driving all of the housing challenges we face, namely, lack of supply. It is not very long ago that the total number of new housing units being built in the country each year was 7,000 to 8,000 per year. Last year, using Housing for All and the policy levers and supports put in place, the Government delivered 30,000 new housing units in the country, which was a 45% increase on the previous year. Unfortunately, it is not possible to solve this problem in a week, in a month or overnight because the key issue is supply, but this Government is doing everything and anything it can to build and drive momentum to ensure new supply and new houses and to work to support people in the rental sector.

On the rental sector, we have taken a number of measures to support tenants. We have capped rent increases in rental pressure zones so they must be no more than 2% per annum, and we have extended rental pressure zones to 2024. Budget 2023 put money back in renters' pockets by reintroducing a tax credit for renters of €500 per renter in 2022 and another €500 credit in 2023. We have also legislated for tenancies of unlimited duration and restricted the level of upfront payments required of tenants, while in the meantime doing everything we can to tackle the core issue, which is supply.

Many of those renting want to purchase their home but, because of the increasing cost of rents, are unable to get the deposit together to be able to do that. This Government has introduced the help-to-buy scheme, which provides a young person or a young couple with the opportunity for the first time in living memory to be able to apply through the Revenue Commissioners to be able to get up to €30,000 to put towards a deposit if they have been working over recent years. It allows them to get back the tax they have already paid so they can put it towards their deposit.

Another support is the first home scheme. In cases where a young person or couple are unable to get a mortgage for the full purchase price of the property, the Government will go shared equity with the person or couple up to 30% per year. Again, this is to help people to be able to purchase a home and to provide support in terms of the supply chain. Regarding vacant or derelict properties in cities, towns and the countryside, somebody can apply for a €50,000 grant if a property has been vacant for a year or a €70,000 grant if a property is derelict.

These supports I have outlined are not supported by Deputy Ó Broin or his party. Sinn Féin's alternative budget last year would have seen those measures abolished but they are really important when it comes to providing support for those renting to allow them to get the deposit together to be able to buy their home and to drive supply. This Government is doing anything and everything it can to boost and drive supply. There was a 45% increase in new developments last year and, alongside that, significant support for renters as well.

The Minister said you cannot solve this problem in a week, in a month or overnight. Indeed you cannot, but his party has been propping up Fine Gael for seven years, and Fine Gael has been in government for 11 years. How long do you need to tackle this crisis? Not only is the Government failing renters, but the Minister stands here and gaslights them, because none of those policies he outlined are working. That is why rents are rising, renters feel more insecure, we have rising levels of people from the private rental sector presenting as homeless and the private rental sector is shrinking. These are all the consequences of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael policies over a decade or more that are, unfortunately, now propped up.

What renters actually need is a Government that will cut rents and build genuinely affordable homes. It is interesting the Minister did not tell us how many genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy were delivered by the Government last year. It was less than 1,000, which is a quarter of what the Government promised and that in itself was nowhere near what is required.

The Government cannot blame time and it cannot blame the Opposition. The responsibility for the crisis in the rental sector and sky-high rents lies with the Government. My question is very simple. It is the same one the Minister did not answer the last time. What will the Government do now to help renters with skyrocketing rents?

I am afraid if they are looking to Deputy Ó Broin for solutions, they will be looking very hard indeed. I have outlined some of the key supports the Government has in place through Housing for All. I have mentioned the help-to-buy scheme, which provides up to €30,000 for a deposit. The First Home scheme provides up to 30% equity. We also have the vacant and derelict property grants. Sinn Féin would get rid of all those supports if it were in government.

Because they push up house prices and make it more difficult for people to buy.

If they are looking to Sinn Féin's capacity to deliver, they should look to Northern Ireland, just a couple of miles from where I live-----

What about renters?

Please-----

-----where it recently had the Minister for housing and Minister for Finance. In the last year for which Sinn Féin had those Ministries for the full year, house prices in Northern Ireland increased by £18,000.

Distract and deflect. What about renters in this State?

Sinn Féin does not have any magic------

Distract and deflect.

Please let the Minister answer.

Sinn Féin does not have any magic solutions here. The solution here is more supply in every way we can deliver it. Last year we increased the supply, providing 30,000 new housing units, a 45% increase on the previous year. We will continue to build on that momentum in every way we possibly can.

Rents will rise. House prices will rise. Homelessness will rise.

Please-----

That is what we get when Fianna Fáil is in government.

There is no time here for strategic heckling.