The Government's rent pressure zone changes have caused fear among renters and uncertainty for investors and the Taoiseach's response to questions earlier provided no clarity. We got poetry - at least, one of the Government Deputies did - but we got no direct response. The Taoiseach said the changes to rent pressure zones will increase supply. Has any modelling been done to show how that will happen? Why did the Government pick March 2026 for the changes to take effect? If they are going to increase supply, why did the Government not do them sooner? The reality is that as experts tell us, they are more likely to lead to a slowdown in supply as landlords hoard properties pending the introduction of the changes in March 2026. Why was March 2026 chosen? Has the Government done any modelling?

Quite a significant number of economists, along with the Housing Agency, are saying that measures taken by this House in 2021 restricted supply, so a lot of people are saying there is a clear need for reform of the rent pressure zones. The vast majority of commentators have said that. The key objective is to protect existing tenants and create certainty so that if someone invests in the future, at a minimum, there is a cap at the rate of inflation as determined by the consumer price index. If we did not have that, we would expect people to invest in the market with the expectation of making a loss. Without question, the whole objective is to create additional supply.

But is there evidence?

There is a lot of evidence already. The Deputy can read the Housing Finance Agency's report and other reports. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has said this as well.

Why March?

Deputy Bacik wants to keep the existing system going forever. The legislation ends at the end of the year so, therefore, we have to give a period for the introduction of new legislation.