The coalition the Taoiseach leads was put together on the back of a grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry and his group of Independents. Since then, he and Simon Harris, the Tánaiste, have been found out for misleading the public on housing delivery figures during the election campaign. Now, he announces he will remove rent pressure zones in order to encourage private investment in housing. In other words, he will remove the only modest protection afforded to renters under this Government and leave them at the mercy of greedy corporate landlords. That is his plan.

It is further reported in the media that the Taoiseach has warned his party members to brace themselves for what he calls unpopular decisions that will be taken on housing. What are those decisions? The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael record is one of sky-high house prices, rip-off rent and truly shameful record levels of homelessness. They may cast themselves as a new Government, but they are not bringing new or constructive ideas to the table. No, it is more of the same.

Who has the Taoiseach's ear? Who is he listening to? He is singing from the same hymn sheet as the lobby groups for big institutional property funds. "Institutional funds are an easy mark for abuse and misrepresentation". That is Pat Farrell, CEO of lobby group Irish Institutional Property, writing in the Business Post on 2 February. Of course the Taoiseach knows he is also a former Fianna Fáil general secretary and Senator. "There's been a tendency in the debate in Ireland to attack funds". That is not Pat Farrell; that is the Taoiseach speaking to the Irish Examiner last Saturday. Fianna Fáil is back in government, once again being led by the nose by lobbyists, defending the interests of big property funds, housing policy being shaped again by those who stand to make massive profit. The Taoiseach's concern is to rehabilitate the standing of vulture funds and cuckoo funds which have done untold damage. Is he aware shares in IRES REIT, the biggest corporate landlord in Ireland, jumped to an eight-month high on the back of his comments about removing rent pressure zones?

Everybody knows there needs to be private investment in housing but we do not require the Government to give carte blanche to these funds to enter the Irish market with a free hand and rip people off. That is the approach that got us into this mess. The Government has no new ideas on housing and no vision for the future of housing so the Taoiseach reverts to type and doubles down on the very approach that has failed abysmally. Is léir nach bhfuil tuairimí nua ar bith maidir le tithíocht ag an Rialtas seo atá nua, mar dhea, sa chaoi ina bhfuil siad ag lútáil mar a bheadh giolla de na cistí rachmasacha réadmhaoine. Why will the Taoiseach punish renters? What are these unpopular decisions he and his Fianna Fáil colleagues are discussing?

Is oth liom a rá go bhfuil an Teachta Dála ag insint bréag arís. Níl aon rud cruinn in aon chor sa mhéid a dúirt sí. Is olc an scéal é nach bhfuil sí sásta díospóireacht shubstaintiúil a bheith againn i gcomhthéacs cúrsaí tithíochta. I regret that normal service has been restored on the Opposition benches. The very real progress that actually has been made in the past four years is ignored-----

Forty thousand houses.

Fifteen thousand homeless.

-----and then what was said is wildly represented.

The leader of Sinn Féin said I have "announced". I did not announce anything, but I will park that for a moment. The misrepresentation goes on and on and the bottom line is that it is two weeks since I was elected Taoiseach. I have not spoken to IRES REIT or any others that Deputy McDonald announced I have. I have spoken to officials in my Department and in the Department of housing. I do not know whether the Deputy has been paying attention, but I take it she knows that the Department of housing last year commissioned the Housing Agency. It did a review of the rent pressure zones, RPZs, and asked the Housing Agency to conduct a specific review of them. I presume the Deputy knew that or else she is not paying attention and this is all a charade. The reason it did so was that it wants to analyse them. Deputy Ó Broin said in May last year that the rent pressure zones are broken. That is what he said. The Housing Agency is due to report by the end of the first quarter of this year. As we know, the legislation that gave rise to the RPZs is due to expire at the end of 2025. As I said to RTÉ, there are a number of options. They can be extended or reformed in line with the Housing Commission recommendations.

I recall Deputy McDonald, Deputy Bacik and others saying the Government had ignored the Housing Commission, that it had treated the Housing Commission shabbily and did not give proper room for debate. I remember asking whether they had read the chapter on rent. The Housing Commission, which went through all aspects of housing, focused on a German system of reference pricing. I am not saying we will go with that but the Housing Commission asked that we examine it in an evidence-based and informed way. That should happen.

We should examine things rationally and with substance and not engage in the sloganeering I have heard in the past few days. I heard it yesterday evening as well, that this is about lobbyists, connections. That is the sum total of what Sinn Féin can contribute to what is a very important debate. The State is committing more than it ever has to housing. In 2025, the budget earmarked for housing is €6 billion. General estimates from the Department of Finance and the Housing Commission say that to get to 50,000 or 60,000 units, we need approximately €20 billion. I take it Sinn Féin accepts the State will not be in a position to come up with €20 billion for housing so there has to be a balance between State investment, which is at its highest ever level and will continue, and private sector investment. It is clear that brownfield sites have not taken off. That is very evident. For sustainability reasons and so on, it is an objective of Government and of the spatial plan that we develop brownfield sites.

The Government brought in protections for renters and will continue to protect renters. We brought in the rent tax credit to help renters in a very high-rent environment. We acknowledge that.

Thank you, Taoiseach. You will have another opportunity.

We also brought in other protections. This is not about undermining renters, but it is about increasing supply-----

Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy McDonald.

-----which we simply have to do.

Let me assure the Taoiseach that I pay the very closest attention to the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of people who live in rental properties. I pay particular attention to those who are literally ripped off month in and month out and really struggle to meet their rent. I pay more attention again to those who have lost their homes because they simply could not make the rent or because they have had the place sold from under them.

The Taoiseach announced very clearly an end to rent pressure zones. The Tánaiste disagrees with him and it seems he has accused him of making up policy on the hoof, so there seems to be some division in the Government. There is absolute clarity that the Taoiseach's concern and priority is these funds, their reputation and standing and their ability to have what he calls a stable environment to return big profits.

Thank you.

Nowhere in his pronouncements has there been any concern for renters-----

Thank you, Deputy McDonald. The Taoiseach to respond.

-----or control of rent. The Government ought to cut rents and freeze them.

Thank you, Deputy McDonald.

It will not do that. Instead it proposes to remove the single protection renters are currently afforded.

I presume Sinn Féin received Threshold's general election manifesto submission. It includes a very interesting recommendation to all political parties in respect of RPZs and long-term rental stability. The Deputy referenced funds and lobbyists. The lobbying register makes for very interesting reading with respect to the high level of activity of the Sinn Féin spokesman, Eoin Ó Broin, and the various companies he has met, including Glenveagh Properties-----

He meets everyone.

-----Vulcan Consulting, Cairn Homes-----

He has not followed through with a policy document.

-----IBEC, on behalf of Property Industry Ireland, Irish Institutional Property, Irish Residential Properties REIT, the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, Tetra Capital Limited, Hines Real Estate Ireland Limited-----

The grassroots are paying attention to that.

-----Beakonshaw Limited, Hibernia Real Estate Group, the Ronan Group Real Estate about the glass bottle site, Cosgrave Property Group and Bartra Capital Property Management.

Do you agree it is not good to meet them?

The Sinn Féin spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, has met all of these organisations-----

Yes, he is doing his job. What is your point?

-----and yet the full attempt by Deputy McDonald and her party in the past few days-----

Time is up.

-----has been to try to smear me, and others by association,-----

Thank you, Taoiseach.

-----by saying we are responding to lobbyists. We are not.

We now move to-----

On a point of order-----

There is no point of order. We are out of time.

It is hypocrisy of the worst kind-----

Taoiseach, you are out of time.

-----and it just sums up-----

Taoiseach, please

-----the shallowness of Sinn Féin's approach.

Taoiseach, resume your seat.

I am interested in real change and getting things done and you are not.

On a point of order.

Deputy, there is no point of order.

There is, actually. The Taoiseach took advantage, perhaps, of the Ceann Comhairle not following.

It is not a point of order.

He accused me. He called me a liar.

I did not hear those words.

He did.

Tá mé ag insint na fírinne. He said it trí Ghaeilge and I would like him to remove it from the record.

He did it deliberately.

Taoiseach, I ask you to withdraw them, if you made those remarks. I am not aware. Did you call Deputy McDonald a liar?

He did make the remarks.

He did. The Taoiseach took advantage of the fact-----

I would say-----

He was taking advantage.

There is a salient ruling.

Please resume your seats.

Dúirt sé "ag insint bréag". Nach iad sin na focail a d'úsáid sé?

Deputy, resume your seat out of respect for the Chair. I am now standing. Please resume your seat.

It is a distraction.

I am asking-----

He took advantage of the fact that the Ceann Comhairle does not have Irish and it is disgraceful. He should withdraw the comment.

I will address it, if the Taoiseach made the remarks, in translation.

He did make the remarks.

Taoiseach, I think-----

Is féidir liom é seo a shoiléiriú má tá deacracht ag na Teachtaí Dála.

Níl aon deacracht ann.

Taoiseach, please resume your seat. I am standing, Deputy.

I thought you called me.

I did not. I am asking for decorum. I cannot rule on what I did not hear. I accept that Deputies believe it was said.

It was said.

The Taoiseach has said he did not say it.

He did not say he did not say it.

We can look back.

Can I ask for clarification? Is the Taoiseach standing there saying he did not accuse the leader of the Opposition of "ag insint bréag"? He took advantage of the fact the Ceann Comhairle has no Irish and it is absolutely disgraceful. It is underhand. He should withdraw the remark.

I ask Deputies to respect the Chair. Excuse me.

It is the Taoiseach who has not respected you.

I am asking again, Taoiseach, if you used the words, will you withdraw them?

Táim sásta-----

Taoiseach, I did not ask you to stand up. I specifically asked you to withdraw the words, if you used them, whether they were as Béarla nó as Gaeilge.

I did not call Deputy McDonald-----

He said it.

Cé atá ag insint porkies anois?

I did say, más féidir liom-----

I will resume my seat and move on to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan for Leaders' Questions.

That is the new-----

No, you can-----

We can accuse anything in Irish. Is that the new standard?

No, Deputy.

The Taoiseach has accused the leader of Sinn Féin of "ag insint bréag" and he is ag insint bréag himself by not acknowledging what he did.

Deputy, resume your seat.

He took advantage of the Ceann Comhairle and he is taking advantage of the Irish language by doing that also.

Deputy Doherty, you are being disrespectful to the Chair in a way of which you are well aware. When the Chair is standing, you do not speak.

I apologise.

I thank the Deputy. I am moving to Leaders' Questions-----

Is that what you are doing?

-----and I would say to the leader of Sinn Féin that if she wishes to make a complaint in writing, we will deal with it.

I am sure the officials can assist the Ceann Comhairle in terms of what was said.

I have already said-----

The officials are there to help the Ceann Comhairle and to interpret what was said in Irish.

I have told Deputy Doherty how I am dealing with it. I am moving on.

The list of the companies was in English, was it not?

Leaders' Questions will resume with Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

The REITs were in English.

Can the public trust this Government? More importantly, why should it trust his Government? I ask because people were misled by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael during the election campaign. They were misled on the issue of the number of homes that were delivered last year. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the former Minister for housing were all adamant that the figure in that regard would be 40,000. It was nowhere near that. The deception does not end there, because there were lies of omission too. At no stage did the Taoiseach tell the public that the Government wanted to get rid of rent pressure zones and drive up rents. At no stage did he tell the public that the Government needed to pivot more strongly to the private sector. At no stage did he tell the public that the Government wanted to introduce tax breaks for developers. Does the Taoiseach think the public would have voted for all of that, namely a housing policy with a singular focus of increasing profits for developers and investment funds at the expense of first-time buyers and renters who are already paying some of the highest housing costs in Europe?

The election was just three months ago; we are not talking about the dim and distant past here. Before Christmas, the Taoiseach was spinning a story of success and a plan that was working. Now members of the Government are briefing the media that it is in the last-chance saloon and needs to make drastic changes to have any chance of meeting its targets. In true Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael fashion, those changes are entirely focused on boosting profits for multibillion-euro investment funds. What about the people at the coalface of this crisis? I refer to the 500,000 adults who are stuck living in their childhood bedrooms, the couples who are postponing having families because they do not have secure homes and the 4,510 children growing up in homelessness who are missing key developmental milestones because their accommodation is so cramped and unsuitable. Fianna Fáil has been influencing housing policy since 2016, when it entered a confidence-and-supply arrangement in order to prop up Fine Gael. It has had nearly a decade to sort this out; instead it has lurched from crisis to catastrophe. After all that time, the best it can do is come up with tax breaks for developers. Dusting off Fianna Fáil's Celtic tiger housing plan is not an answer to the housing disaster. We all know where it ended before.

Does the Taoiseach accept that the public was misled by him during the election campaign? Will he apologise to the public for this? Why should the public believe anything he says on housing now?

I am somewhat amused that the Deputy is saying we have influenced housing policy since 2016. For the past two weeks, he has been saying that confidence and supply was in no way a precedent in the context of being involved in Government and so on.

Influence.

We were not in government from 2016 to 2020; we have been in government since 2020. The Deputy used the phrase "lies of omission".

The Deputy must have been listening to the Taoiseach.

I would point out that the previous Government carried out a review of the rental sector last year. Following on from that, it requested the Housing Agency to conduct a specific review of the operation of the RPZ scheme. It is doing that. The review will be concluded by the end of quarter 1. That is the intended conclusion date. As the Deputy knows, the legislation that gave rise to the RPZs is due to expire by the end of 2025.

There are a number of options. We can extend it or we can examine it, which is what the Housing Commission asked us to do. The Deputy was very strong in stating the Government had ignored the Housing Commission. I kind of always suspected there was a shallowness to that attack. The bottom line is that the Housing Commission had been very clear that we should look at the matter in detail and that we should look in detail at the German system of what is called reference rent pricing. That system may not suit us. To be fair to the Housing Commission, it asked that we do it in an evidence-based way, which is what will happen.

People in the House condemned Government for not responding to the Housing Commission. Housing is the number one issue in this country. The Deputy has no monopoly on empathy for those who are struggling to get a house. That is why we dramatically increased the number of social homes in the past four years. It was a dramatic increase, compared with what had been happening in previous years. We have increased the allocation from Government to social housing quite significantly. Where we want to get to is 10,000 per annum for the long term - constructed by local authorities - and affordable homes. We have to have a strong pipeline of social housing. That will require ongoing State investment. We want to continue that focus.

We have prioritised and put a lot of investment into affordable housing, in terms of cost rental, etc., by means of a variety of schemes. We brought in capital grants in respect of derelict homes or homes that are vacant to allow couples and other people to buy such homes. The State is playing its part. It is investing hugely in the housing market, and that will continue.

If everybody accepts the ESRI figures, which suggested that we needed to get to 50,000 for the next number of years per annum, we have a big leap to make. What has struck me about the debate so far-----

I thank the Taoiseach. He can come back in.

-----is that it is all noise and condemnation, with very few solutions being offered.

Does the Taoiseach accept the evidence that shows the countries in Europe with the largest and most successful rental sectors also have very strong rent regulation? Does he accept the evidence that shows that rents in Ireland are among the highest in Europe?

The Taoiseach asked for solutions; I will give him just two in the time available. One would be to introduce specific zoning for affordable housing. That is done in places like Vienna, where you can rent a two-bed apartment for about €750 per month. Will the Taoiseach introduce similar zoning for affordable housing in Ireland? I have a second constructive proposal. Housing Europe published a report in 2023 in which it outlined how there were billions of euro in European Union funding streams that could be used to help build affordable housing in Ireland. That report was actually commissioned by the Taoiseach's party's very own MEP in Dublin. Will the Taoiseach accept the proposals in that report and implement them?

I am not clear that there are billions of funds in Europe for housing. Any funds that are available, we would seek. However, housing competence within Europe has been at a low level. This is the first Commission with a housing Commissioner. As we have heard in various reports, the European Parliament is also now engaging for the first time.

Did the Taoiseach even read that Housing Europe report?

There are not billions available to Ireland.

Did the Taoiseach read the report?

There are not billions available from the European Union in respect of housing.

Did the Taoiseach read the report?

The Deputy has asked me to respond to his two suggestions. From my engagement with Europe, I am aware that the biggest issue we will face in the context of the next financial framework is how we will increase the European budget, to which Ireland is a net contributor. There are going to be a whole range of demands on us. In Ireland, traditionally, we have always protected the Common Agricultural Policy, and research and Horizon funding, along with other issues.

In the context of zoning for affordable housing, we will examine that idea. Hopefully, we will shortly be bringing forward the national planning framework, which will deal with zoning and give us a capacity to zone more.

I thank the Taoiseach. We will move to-----

Within that context, yes, we can respond to a proposal of that kind.

-----the Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Deputy Ruth Coppinger.