At a time when rents are at record levels the Tánaiste's Government has come up with a new solution: to hike them up even further. Its proposal to effectively remove rent controls from new tenancies signals disaster for renters, especially young people, students and their families and anyone who moves to a new rental home. The reality of the Government's plan was always clear, but now it is not just the Opposition saying it. Despite all the spin and bluster from Government and the Tánaiste over the last few weeks, the Central Bank has said the Government's rent hike Bill will be "painful" for tenants. It said "...the social costs and the pain felt by households is not even...". This will hurt young people and their ability to save to buy their own home. This will hurt students and their families who are paying already extortionate rents and this will hurt ordinary working people who find themselves stuck in an ever-spiralling rental trap. The Tánaiste's Government's plan is a green light for massive rent increases every year. His Government spent a full week attempting to disguise the fact its plan shafts renters. It just could not be straight with people, so in a blizzard of confusion we had Ministers tripping over themselves to contradict each other. The Tánaiste declared in this House last week that "We will be taking specific measures to support students; do not worry we will, because we have their backs". Then the Minister, Deputy Browne, confirmed the reality that there will be no exemptions or special protections for students in the private rental sector or any renters who will be faced with massive rent hikes. The Tánaiste keeps saying this is a balanced plan but nothing could be further from the truth. The Government cannot promise vulture funds that they can increase prices while pretending to renters that rents will not go up. We know who is going to pay and it is renters, so let us be honest that Government housing policy has always been about investors and giving vulture and cuckoo funds free rein to squeeze rents out of hardworking people.

To make matters worse, supply is falling off a cliff. The Government missed its housing targets last year, it is nowhere near close to meeting them this year and now the Central Bank has again revised down its estimates for new completions this year to barely above 30,000, which is far below the target of 40,000. Not only will the Government miss its targets this year, the Central Bank believes it will miss them next year, the year after that and the year after that. All of this is happening in a cost-of-living crisis. Rents are going up at the same time as groceries, insurance and broadband and at a rate far higher than incomes have increased. This is putting a burden which people simply cannot take.

Despite all this confusion there is one absolute certainty, which is that rents will go up and the Government will remove one of the few protections renters have. Rent controls will not apply to new-build homes. They will not apply to existing homes after a renter moves out voluntarily. They will not apply to off-campus student accommodation despite the Tánaiste saying the Government has students' backs. The average tenancy is just over three years long, meaning very soon almost all renters will be hurt by the Government’s decisions this week. They will hurt tens of thousands of people every year. They will lock families into overcrowded accommodation for fear that if they move their rents will skyrocket. There is absolutely no guarantee these changes will increase supply. I believe rents need to be brought down. The Tánaiste and his Government obviously believe rents should go up. Of course the rent pressure zones should have been extended. That should have been done on day one. The Government should scrap all the rest of its absolutely crazy proposals that will increase the price of rent.

When is the Tánaiste’s Government going to stop punishing renters? Does he now accept that rents will go up as a result of the Government’s decision this week? Will he take the opportunity to correct the record of the Dáil and accept students who live off campus will not be protected under the proposals and will be some of the first to be affected?

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

I thank Deputy Cullinane for raising this important issue. I want to be very clear for people watching at home that the decisions the Government has taken and the legislation the Government is taking through the Houses this week is legislation that will extend the rent pressure zones. As everybody renting across Ireland knows, the rent pressure zones were due to end at Christmas. Had we not taken action they would have ended. They would have disappeared. Not only have we taken a decision to extend the rent pressure zones based on the advice of the Housing Agency and others, we have also taken the decision to expand the rent pressure zones to parts of the country that were not covered and to do that in a speedy fashion. About 11 counties in Ireland will benefit from that. Rent pressure zones staying in place and going nationwide is a good and sensible thing to happen in terms of protecting existing tenants.

The Deputy quoted the Central Bank report, but of course he just quoted parts of it. The Central Bank also said our rent pressure zone reforms will have a positive effect on supply. Its representatives acknowledge housing projections are subject to uncertainty, but they said this morning it is not impossible to reach the targets, though there are a number of steps that need to be taken. Many of the steps they have outlined are areas where we have seen Government place a priority focus on in recent weeks. These include the establishment of an Coimisiún Pleanála, the decision to extend planning permissions that could have expired, the decision to make more developments exempted - because in some local authorities about 50% of a planner's time can be taken up on small things like attic conversions or modular developments in the back garden - and the new national planning framework we have brought through this House to ensure there is enough land zoned to get to the 300,000 plus homes we need to deliver by the end of 2030. Next month we will see a very significant programme of investment from Government in the key enabling infrastructure to deliver homes, particularly to do with water, wastewater and energy as well. So we are taking steps.

I know exactly what I said about students last week. I said: "We will be taking specific measures to support students; do not worry ... because we have their backs", and we do and we will.

We do not believe you.

Deputy Cullinane does not need to lecture me about students. When I was Minister for further and higher education we reduced student fees every year and we extended the renter's tax credit to students while Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland continues to expect students to pay way more to access college. Do not worry, and more importantly students should not worry, because in the forthcoming budget we will take more measures to protect students, so please do not try to create this generational anxiety about what we are going to do to support our students at a time when we have more people than ever before in our history accessing third level education. We will continue to support students. I tell the students or the renters or the people Sinn Féin tries to mislead that it is that party's policy to abolish rent pressure zones.

We will freeze rents-----

In the Sinn Féin housing plan------

-----and reduce rents.

Just give David his chance this week Matt. You might get a go next week. In the Sinn Féin housing plan the party is in favour of reference rents, which the ESRI said would be unworkable and complex and the Housing Agency said would be unworkable, complex and lead to more disputes. Sinn Féin knows what a reference rent would have meant.

The Government voted against freezing rents last night.

It would have meant increasing the rent for existing tenants. I do not expect consistency from Sinn Féin on policy development, but a little bit of recognition it contested a general election on the basis of abolishing rent pressure zones and replacing them with reference rents, something the Housing Agency the ESRI and I reckon a hell of a lot of renters do not think are a good idea either.

Again the Tánaiste's response is all spin, bluster and blaming everybody else-----

Hear, hear.

It always is.

-----but his Government for the fact it is bringing in policies that will drive up the cost of rent for many people. Students will not buy his line of argument. They will see through his spin. Many students are going to see their rent and the cost of their accommodation increase. They know it. They know the Government does not have their backs. The Tánaiste talks about a balance, but the balance here is tipped in favour of the vulture funds, cuckoo funds and the investors.

Absolutely.

It is more money for them and more profit for them, which is always the case under Fine Gael, which represents a cosseted, privileged class, from my perspective.

Hear, hear.

Ordinary people who have to pay increased costs on groceries, insurance and now rent are the ones who are paying the price. The Tánaiste should stand up once and for all. He should not be blaming Sinn Féin for something we did not do and take responsibility for his actions. The Central Bank made it clear today this will hurt those same people. Take responsibility for it, stop it, scrap it, do not put institutional investors first and do not again screw those renters who are already paying high rents with even higher rents.

Hear, hear.

Do not talk to me about the privileged classes when the largest property owner and investor in this House is the Sinn Féin Party. Let us remember Deputy Cullinane's party is the biggest property owner in the Dáil. His party's director of finance Des Mackin boasted to The Irish Times-----

More spin, more bluster.

-----a few years ago that Sinn Féin had "40 or 50 [properties], easily"-----

Answer the question.

-----across the island. He said the party had "...tried to tidy it up some years ago, but it was too difficult".

This is about the Minister's record.

Order, please.

They do not like the truth.

He went on to say, "In Belfast alone we’d have seven ... Nationally, I’d say it exceeds 40 or 50 ..." The biggest property owners and investors in Dáil Éireann are those in Sinn Féin. Do not give me "We are on the side of the working people". It is a load of bull that people see right through. You are the wealthiest party in this House-----

People are not buying any of that bluster.

-----and there are no two ways about it. At least have the decency to stand by your policy.

Answer the question.

You are in favour of reference rent. We are in favour of rent pressure zones. It is a balanced package. We are taking measures-----

The high energy has fizzled out. Gone.

-----to expand rent pressure zones. We are taking measures to make them permanent. We are also making sure we can deliver more supply, because do you know what renters need? Places to rent.

We know that, and you are not doing it. It is just spin, spin, spin.

You are only learning that after 12 years.

Before moving to the Social Democrats, I acknowledge the group from New Zealand in our Distinguished Visitors Gallery. They were welcomed formally yesterday. They were so impressed that they came back again today. They might mark a sheet for us about how people performed yesterday versus today.