We have all seen the news of the tragic plane crash in India of a flight on its way to London. All we can say at this time is that all of our thoughts are with all of those affected as we wait for news. It is shocking.

I also want to extend my condolences to an Teachta Rose Conway-Walsh whose mother, Philomena Conway, passed away this morning. My thoughts are with Rose, all of her brothers and sisters and her whole family at this time. It is a difficult time for them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Tá an Rialtas trína chéile ó thaobh tithíochta de agus é ag crúbaireacht thart ag iarraidh botúin mhóra sa phlean cíosa atá in ainm a bheith aige a cheartú. Tá neamhinniúlacht an Rialtais dochreidte. Is é an t-aon rud atá cinnte ná go rachaidh cíosanna atá ró-ard cheana féin in airde mar thoradh ar mholtaí an Rialtais. The spin surrounding the Government's chaotic proposals to reform the rental sector is unravelling day by day. The Government is at sixes and sevens, caught up in damage limitation and exercised because people can see right through what this plan is all about. It is about pushing up already extortionate rents even higher. As the Tánaiste knows, it will allow landlords to set the market rate for all new tenancies. The Tánaiste knows the Government is opening the gates to massive rent hikes for people who are already under serious pressure. The Government knows all of this.

After 1 March, renters will be hit with massive rent increases. This is especially true for young people who, by the very nature of their lives, whether for work or education, tend to move frequently. Young people, the generation which has already been shafted by your housing crisis, will be on the hook for even bigger rent hikes. We know students and their families are already desperate for affordable accommodation and will be absolutely fleeced when theses changes kick in. In fact, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, IHCA, issued a damning statement yesterday, warning that the Government's plan could impact essential healthcare staff, required to move during their training, finding affordable accommodation.

The madness of this plan is matched only by the incompetence of the Government's approach. It is a complete and utter botch job. On Tuesday, the Government told the media, through the Department, that rent pressure zones would come into effect on 1 March. Indeed, the Minister confirmed that on "Prime Time". That meant that tens of thousands of renters will face the prospect of massive rent hikes as landlords move to benefit before the changes kick in. These are the people who have already seen double-digit rent increases and will now be thrown to the wolves. They cannot take any more.

On top of that, the Government's clumsy approach runs the risk of landlords holding off putting properties back up for rent until the changes come in in March. In its haste to pander to big landlords and wealthy property funds, the Government wrote this on the back of an envelope and there was no consideration of the impact on renters. They were an afterthought. That is why we are in such a big mess. It is now panic stations from the Government. This morning, the Government is scrambling around like headless chickens trying to find a way to rush forward the changes to rent laws before the Dáil breaks for the summer. The incompetence is off the charts. It seems that the only real thought given to the plan was how to screw over renters. Fair play; the Government did that with five golden stars.

When will we see the legislation? Who are we to believe? Is it the Minister, who was on "Prime Time" and said it will not happen till March? Is it now the headless chicken approach that we read about, whereby the Government will try to rush this through before the summer recess? Does the Tánaiste accept that existing landlords, even in existing rent pressure zones, letting to new tenants after 1 March will be able to jack up rents as high as they wish for new tenants before they move in, whether that is students, trainee nurses or anybody else? Will the Tánaiste simply admit that delivering higher rents for landlords and investors is what this plan is really about, because, without a doubt, that will be the outcome of what the Government has announced?

I join with Deputy Doherty in extending my sympathy to all of those caught up in the very tragic and horrific plane crash this morning. We think of all of them and their families in what is an evolving story with, no doubt, more information to come.

I too want to extend my sympathies to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, on the loss of her mother. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis. We think of her at this time.

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising the important issues of rent, renters and housing supply. The Government took a number of decisions this week to extend rental supports and protections. Let us not forget that, prior to that decision, rent pressure zones were due to expire at the end of this year. Rental protections associated with that were due to disappear. The Government worked intensively to come up with a package that is balanced and provides an extension of the rent pressure zones. Many parts of the Deputy's county - I think the entire county - including Carndonagh, Buncrana, Lifford, Letterkenny, Milford, Glenties and Donegal town are not protected by rent pressure zones as of today. Under our proposal and the emergency legislation that we will bring forward next week, which I heard the Deputy's party leader say she will support, we will extend rent pressure zones to people living in Donegal and other parts of the country, including Carlow, Cavan, parts of Cork, Clare, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and elsewhere. We are extending rent pressure zones nationwide and we are also keeping, for existing tenants, the 2% rate.

It is important to recognise that the Government proposals did not fall from the sky. They are grounded in the Housing Agency's review of this matter. For those looking in at home, the Housing Agency is the body charged with coming up with ideas and proposals as to how we can accelerate housing supply. That is what it is asked to do. We have published the report of the Housing Agency, which is a detailed document. I am sure Deputy Doherty has had the time to go through it. It outlined a number of findings, including how there has been evidence of meaningful price moderation due to the RPZs. It outlined how institutional investment has reduced considerably since 2023. It has also made a number of recommendations, including based on international literature review. It has come up with concerns around how we would actually go about reference rent and the challenges that would pose. Similar challenges were outlined by the ESRI. This is the latest measure to help to support renters.

The Deputy is continuing to misinform people. People in rental accommodation watching in today need to know that we have kept the RPZs for them and extended a protection that was due to end. People in the Deputy's county and in other counties who do not have the protection of RPZs need to know that next week we will bring forward legislation to extend those protections.

We also have to look at what we can do in regard to supply. The sons and daughters and other people who want to rent need more accommodation to be built. Therefore, we have taken a balanced approach that supports renters while also providing security, clarity and certainty for those who wish to invest in our country. Of course, this is the latest in a series of announcements to be made, which includes extending planning permissions, expanding exempted developments, extending the role of the Land Development Agency, the new national planning framework to have more zoned land and, very shortly, significant capital investment in water, wastewater and energy so that we can deliver that enabling infrastructure. All these measures need to be looked at in the round to try to get a functioning housing market that can get us to the 300,000 homes we need over the next number of years.

The measures in the package we have brought for this week are balanced. I was at the Cabinet meeting this week. It was always the intention that we would bring forward an initial Bill to extend rent pressure zones and then further legislation which we can take the time to tease through in order to get this right in terms of what the new system looks like from March.

Does the Tánaiste really believe that guff and spin? We have had 14 years of Fine Gael in government and rents have never been higher.

The Government is absolutely crucifying renters, and what it has done in its plan, when we cut through all of the spin, is that for every single new tenancy, and whether it is in Ardara or Drumcondra makes no difference, after 1 March the landlords will be able to set the price to whatever they want. Under existing law at present in a rent pressure zone this is not allowed. This is a charter for higher rents. This is charter for the vulture funds and for the property developers. It is benefiting landlords. They are the only people who will benefit. We know that tens of thousands of people move out of rental pressure zones.

The Tánaiste used to be the Minister for higher education. He mentioned Ardara, Letterkenny and Buncrana. What about the student who goes to rent a house in Drumcondra next year which is in a rent pressure zone? Will the landlord be able to jack up that price to whatever he wants before he lets the house? The answer is "yes" because what the Government has allowed is a free rein to every single landlord who lets a property out to a new tenant.

Thank you, Deputy Doherty.

That is the reality. The Tánaiste's answer to sky-high rents is to push them even further. That is shameful.

Please conclude, Deputy Doherty.

It is why so many people feel that Ireland is no longer their home.

I call the Tánaiste.

It is why we have 100,000 people born in this country now living in Australia. The Government has made the situation worse.

Hear, hear.

Deputy Doherty is out of time.

The Government produced a series of measures this week that will extend for the very first time rent pressure zones to the constituency Deputy Doherty represents in Dáil Éireann. Do you not welcome that?

You gutted them.

Hang on a second. In Donegal today there is no rent pressure zone. In the proposals brought forward by the Minister, Deputy Browne, the rent pressure zones will be extended to Deputy Doherty's constituency and we will bring forward legislation next week to do this. Deputy Doherty did not reference the changes in relation to no-fault evictions. He did not recognise the fact that rent pressure zones were due to expire in December were we not to take these measures.

Answer my question.

I will answer it and I will not be shouted down, thank you.

What about the student in Drumcondra?

The only split and confusion that seems to be taking place in housing policy is in Sinn Féin. Mary Lou McDonald, Deputy Doherty's leader-----

Answer the question.

Hang on a second.

Please.

I am answering the question, thank you.

Give him a chance to answer.

Mary Lou McDonald said she is in favour of rent pressure zones.

Of course we are.

Eoin Ó Broin said he is not and that he is in favour of reference rent. Reference rent would see people's rents being pushed up.

Answer the question.

Mary Lou McDonald said she does not want institutional investment in Ireland.

Answer the question.

Eoin Ó Broin said he and Deputy Doherty meet them regularly. Sinn Féin is all over the place on housing. Its policy did not work so it does not have a housing policy now. All it has is noise and street activism. We will be taking specific measures to support students; do not worry we will, because we have their backs.

Answer the question.

We will expand the rent pressure zones and Sinn Féin needs to work out why it wants to bring in reference rents and push up rents and why it wanted to abolish the rent pressure zones. Shame.

Answer the question about the landlord in Drumcondra.

I call Deputy Sherlock. Resume your seat, Deputy Doherty.

The Tánaiste does want to do it because he does want to tell the public that his plan is to push rents sky high.

Deputy Sherlock has the floor.

That is the reality of it. The Tánaiste refuses to answer the question.

Deputy Sherlock, please.

Sky high rents.

Respect democracy.

You are in favour of reference rents.

My thoughts are also with the loved ones of those on the flight from Ahmedabad to England. I have friends in Ahmedabad and we are very worried about them today. I also offer condolences on behalf of the Labour Party to Deputy Conway-Walsh on the loss of her mother.

One of the most difficult decisions a family will ever have to take is to put a loved one into a nursing home. This decision places enormous trust in strangers to treat that older person with the respect and dignity they deserve in the final years of their life. The brilliant investigative journalism by RTÉ last week showed very distressing scenes in Glasnevin and Portlaoise. In the week since then, all of the focus has been on the very serious failures in HIQA.

There are some good nursing homes out there, just as there are some good people in HIQA. What really worries me now is that the Government somehow believes that if HIQA tries harder, and if the adult safeguarding legislation is brought in to investigate individual complaints after those instances happen, then all will be fine. However, it will not. There are big questions for the Government now about the type of care we want for our older people in this country. Do we want a nursing home system where there is no minimum staffing level? These standards exist in the North and in other countries but they do not exist here. HIQA provides no guidance to nursing homes on safe staffing levels. Will providers whose chief motivation is profit, and there are many of them out there, ensure they have the right number of nurses and healthcare assistants on their premises? They will not.

The PWC report on nursing home staff in 2023 found the staff turnover of healthcare assistants in private nursing homes was as high as 54% in 2022. Even the childcare sector does not have staff turnover figures as high as that. Sitting in the Department of Health since 2022 is a report by a task force put together by the Department which recommends a living wage for all public and private sector nursing home staff. It recommends consideration of a pay agreement for the sector along with other important changes. What has happened since then? Nothing. Many of those workers are still on the minimum wage. Some providers are failing to pay the work permit minimums according to reports I am getting and there is huge frustration among the workers at being forced to work extremely long hours in the sector.

I have to ask the Tánaiste whether he is comfortable that the nursing home sector has become dominated by big business in Ireland. Is he comfortable with the fact that those to whom we are entrusting the care of our people are increasingly dominated by big business? Yesterday my party leader Deputy Bacik spoke of ten investment funds owning one third of all nursing home beds in Ireland. We know from the ESRI research that 20% of smaller private nursing homes closed between 2020 and 2022. We are seeing the growth of nursing homes driven by private equity-owned operators. The reality is that many are owned by what are called "opcos". REITs, which pay no tax, have separate entities to operate them known as "opcos". The reality is that smaller nursing homes are being crowded out. Does the Tánaiste want workers to be properly resourced, to be paid decently and to work in conditions in which they can provide the best possible care? Will he implement the recommendations of the 2022 report? Will he commit to the State playing a leading role in developing residential long-term care alongside smaller private nursing homes in this country?