I welcome Commissioner McGrath back to the House. I also welcome the women's Shankill group who are here with us in Leinster House. They are very welcome here today.

Dearbhaíonn figiúirí ón mBord um Thionóntachtaí Cónaithe inniu an rud atá ar eolas ag tionóntaí cheana féin. Is é sin go bhfuil cíosanna as smacht agus iad ar siúl suas 5% arís le bliain anuas. Is polasaithe an Rialtais atá freagrach as seo. Today's Residential Tenancies Board figures confirm what renters already know and that is that rents are out of control and it is the Government's policies that are responsible. This is not something abstract. I spoke to a couple last week who are renting. They both have good jobs. The plan was simple. They were going to save hard, buy their own home and one day start a family here in Ireland. However, they could not take the rent increases any more and they knew more were coming. Last week, they were left with no other option but to move back into his parent's homes, back into his childhood bedroom. Now their plan has changed. Their plan now is to save money, book flights and head to Australia. This couple are 26 and 27 years of age. This is what non-stop rip-off rents have done to their future and it is a direct result of Government policies over decades that have driven this rent crisis to boiling point.

This crisis has now resulted in 5,400 eviction notices being issued in the last quarter alone. The Government's policies are not getting young people out of boxrooms; it is putting them back into them. In the past year alone, both new and existing rents have risen by 5% across the State. In some counties, the increases have been truly shocking. In Leitrim rents are up 16%, in Carlow they are up 15% and in Longford the are up 14%. The average new rent in this State is now €20,000 a year. In Dublin, the picture is even more brutal. The average new rent in Dublin stands at €27,000 a year.

This is not an accident. This is the direct result of Fine Gael's approach to housing and to renters, letting the market run wild, protecting profits and abandoning ordinary people. Average rents were less than €1,000 when the Tánaiste became a Minister and took up his position in Cabinet. Now, they are nearly double that. That means that people are now having to pay over €9,000 more a year in rent than when he took office, and almost €10,000 more a year in Dublin for new rents.

The Government is going to make matters worse. From March of next year, tens of thousands of renters will see their rent reset to the very top of the market. For some, this will mean a doubling of the rent. How high is the Tánaiste willing to let rents go before he intervenes? Is it €3,000 a month? Is it €4,000 or maybe €5,000? What is his cut-off point? Young people cannot take this pressure any longer. The Government is pricing them out of homes, out of family life and out of their futures. What did renters get in this year's budget? They did not get the promise the Tánaiste made to them that the Government would increase the renter's tax credit. They did not get that but landlords are going to get an increase. They will get €1,000 tax break next year. Workers get no tax cut at all but developers get €250 million of a tax break for apartments that are already under construction. Once again, the Government made clear political choices. It chose landlords and developers over renters.

Our position is clear and simple. The Government needs to end the rip-off. It needs to get rents under control and it is needs to make housing affordable. That means cutting rents and freezing any further rent increases for the next three years to give renters breathing space and to stop this relentless upward spiral.

Here is the question: is the Government going to finally act by cutting rents and introducing a real and meaningful three-year rent freeze - yes or no - or is it going to continue with Fine Gael's failed approach that has already driven rents through the roof? While the Tánaiste sits at the Cabinet table, rents have gone up, on average, by €1,000 a month to the point that it costs €27,000 for a new tenant in this capital. It is shameful.

Hear, hear.

First, I join with colleagues in welcoming our former colleague, Ireland's friend and our Commissioner in the European Union, Commissioner McGrath, and thank him for the job he is doing in the European Commission on crucial areas at this time. I also join with Deputy Doherty in welcoming the group from the Shankill Shared Women's Centre to the Public Gallery. I thank him for the important work he is doing also.

On behalf of Deputies right across this Chamber and the people of Ireland, I send our solidarity and support to the people of Hong Kong and to all of the families affected by the horrific apartment block fire last night. It was truly devastating and is deeply disturbing. We think of all of those impacted at this very difficult time.

There is a kind of rhythm to Deputy Doherty's questions these days, whereby he selectively quotes from publications that have just come out. He may not have had a chance to fully read it yet, but the RTB report out this morning does show something that he chose not to share with Dáil Éireann or with renters, which is that the ESRI's individual property level analysis shows that 62% of properties nationally saw no change in rent year on year. That number is up by 4.8 percentage points compared with the previous year. We have a real challenge in terms of housing - indeed it is an emergency - but we are now seeing a situation where the number of rental properties not seeing an increase has increased further on last year and now stands-----

The law will change in March.

Deputy Gould should hang on a second and give me a chance. It now stands at 62% of properties, which affects more than six out of ten people. It also finds the benefit of the rent pressure zones because it finds that, where rents have increased, it is disproportionately in areas not covered by rent pressure zones.

Deputy Doherty likes to talk a lot about what has happened since the election. What has happened since the election is that this Government that was re-elected and reformed took a decision to extend nationwide the rent property zones, including, in the Deputy's own county, Carndonagh, Buncrana, Lifford, Letterkenny, Milford, Glenties and Donegal town, areas that were not covered by rent pressure zones until we brought in those measures in recent times. I have no doubt that is also going to provide much assistance and protection.

I accept we are seeing a churn in terms of landlords coming into the market and landlords leaving the market, but we are actually also seeing more tenancies than before. Nationally, approved housing bodies have seen their registered tendencies grow year on year and quarter on quarter. Private tenancies have also grown annually to 240,751. In Dublin, an area where there is often particularly acute housing pressure, registered private tenancies rose by 4.3% annually to 108,174.

Deputy Doherty says his position on rent and rental protections is clear. I am not sure it is because I genuinely do not know today whether or not Sinn Féin supports rent pressure zones. Deputy Ó Broin did not support them. He said Sinn Féin would get rid of them and replace them with a reference system that the Housing Agency and the ESRI, both independent of Government, said would not work. They said it would be extremely complicated and it would not work. I believe it would have actually pushed up people's rent. Yet, I heard Deputy Doherty's leader say on national radio that scrapping RPZs would remove the only modest protection. I am not sure if that is discontent within the Sinn Féin party. Is Eoin telling the truth or is Mary Lou telling the truth? Which is the policy of Sinn Féin when it comes to renters?

Deputy Doherty mentioned the rent tax credit. When this Government was returned to office, the rent tax credit was due to expire. We took a decision not just to increase it for a year but to increase it and keep it there for the next three years. It was going to go to zero euro and zero cent until we took the decision to put hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers' money into the rent tax credit. Sinn Féin's position when it comes to rent pressure zones is truly Jekyll and Hyde stuff. We are bringing in a series of rental protections. I want people listening into this debate to know that on 10 June, we brought in a series of new rights and protections for both new and existing tenants-----

The rents are going up though.

-----including ending no-fault evictions for larger landlords with four or more tenancies, and bringing in rent controls and extending them nationally through the RPZs for the first time ever, from 20 June. We are already seeing the benefit of that. There is a housing emergency, but there are some signs of encouragement in terms of the number of properties now that are not seeing an increase in rents this year. That is up on last year.

It will be gone in March.

In his heart of hearts, does the Tánaiste believe that is the case for young people who are listening to him? The couple I was speaking to last week, a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, are back in the box room of their family homes, back in their childhood bedrooms. They were supposed to build a house, start a family and live here in Ireland but they are heading to Australia. The Tánaiste is trying to deny the reality that is out there. The RTB is very clear. Rents are going up. They have gone up over €1,000 in the last year. New rents and existing rents have gone up. Every year since the Tánaiste has been in the Cabinet, rents have gone up by an average of €1,000. They are the bare facts, not my facts but those of the RTB, which has told us very clearly that renters have to find €9,000 more for the average rent now since he took office in the Cabinet. In Dublin they have to find €10,000 more. Does the Tánaiste think it is appropriate that new renters have to pay €27,000 a year in rent in Dublin? Our position is very clear - ban rent increases.

Hear, hear.

Stop filling the pockets of landlords.

Hear, hear.

The Tánaiste should maybe tell the truth. Fine Gael made a solemn promise to the public that if they got re-elected, they would increase the renter's tax credit. They broke that promise, like so many others, because Simon says-----

I thank Deputy Doherty.

-----on one hand and Simon does on the other hand. The election is over and Simon does not care. He has prioritised landlords and developers and he has abandoned renters.

Deputy Doherty should conclude.

That is the reality of it. Every year, rents are going up and the Government has no plan to fix it. Indeed, it is going to make it worse because it is going to allow landlords to reset the rents right across the board in March next year. It is appalling. That is why young people have decided to abandon this country in search of a different future.

Would Deputy Doherty allow the Tánaiste to respond, please?

I will take the same latitude on the clock as well.

Of course you will.

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I do not understand a Sinn Féin policy that opposes every single support for small landlords to try to keep them in the market and then ones to make sure we have more rental properties available. How does Sinn Féin wish to have rental properties without landlords, yet it demonises small landlords across this country and opposes every single measure?

Hear, hear.

Mom and pop landlords - people in my constituency and Deputy Doherty's - who rent out one or two properties are demonised. We need them to stay in the market. Deputy Doherty wants to drive them out and increase rental property. It does not make sense. It is probably why he is celebrating his 15th anniversary as the Opposition spokesperson on finance. Five finance Ministers later, he is still sitting in the same seat because the people of Ireland do not trust him when it comes to the economy. They know the angry jack-in-the-box routine does not build homes.

Does the Government build homes? Seriously.

Order, please.

Fourteen years. The Tánaiste fairly put his foot in that one.

Angry Pearse.

Take your foot out of your mouth.

Order, please.

In the extra time available to me that was available to Deputy Doherty, can I point out there is only party in this House that receives very significant financial funding from builders and construction companies?

Fine Gael. Thanks for admitting it, fair play to you.

The published accounts of Friends of Sinn Féin in the United States of America show that of its €366,000 in donations-----

What about the renters?

They are back in the box room.

-----the bulk of them came from construction companies and builders. Do you know where the biggest donation from?

Order, please.

It came from one construction company in America that gave Sinn Féin $20,000. Sinn Féin tells the young people of Ireland it is on the side of the working people and Mary Lou-----

This is the lack of substance from our new finance Minister.

-----flies out to America to take the dollars from the big businesses, big companies and big builders.

Order, please.

Sinn Féin is the party that takes big money from big American building companies. Deputy Doherty is a hypocrite.

The Tánaiste has got his time.

I am sure even Michael McGrath is blushing up there.

Funny boy, Pearse.

At this embarrassment from a finance Minister.

Funny boy, Pearse. Happy anniversary.

Order, please.

Has the Tánaiste nothing to say to the renters of Ireland?

Fifteen years of shouting and roaring, offering nothing positive to anybody. That is you, Pearse. Happy anniversary.

The renter's tax break would not exist if it was not for me.

When the two of you are ready, we can continue.

I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

The rent tax credit and RPZs are benefiting people in Donegal for the first time ever. You are welcome.

I thank the Deputies very much.

It will be gone in March. Does the Tánaiste not understand the legislation?

I reassure the Tánaiste and anybody else in the House that where they interrupt and the clock goes on, I am fair in relation to compensating on the other side.

You are very fair.

It is very difficult at times-----

You can say that again.

-----because, well, the show goes on. I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

I join others in welcoming the group from the Shankill Shared Women's Centre. It is great to see them. I welcome also Commissioner McGrath. I join the Tánaiste in saying our thoughts are with all those affected by the devastating fire in Hong Kong.

The cost-of-living crisis may have ended for Fine Gael but for ordinary families it is getting worse day by day. Food, heating, electricity, rents and college fees are all more expensive than they were last year. The CSO found recently that food prices alone are up 4.5% in the past 12 months. People are paying more, getting less and wondering how they will stretch their wages to the end of the week. Everybody outside of the Government can see what is happening. The fact the Tánaiste cannot see it is astonishing, so let me spell it out for him.

Pricewatch compared 25 supermarket staples over three years. In 2022, a basket of everyday items cost €87. The same basket now costs a whopping €135. That is a 55% jump in just three years. The price of bread is up, the price of eggs has increased by 50% and chicken has more than doubled in price. These are not luxuries; they are basics. Ireland now has the second highest prices in the eurozone, 12% above the EU average. Families are being fleeced.

The skyrocketing cost of food is not just visible in euro and percentages. We can see it in the stress and anxiety etched into people's faces when they are at the supermarket till. People are wondering how much further they can stretch their pay packets. What was once the simple routine of the weekly shop has now turned into a painful choice between essentials, between putting food on the table and heating the home. Impossible choices are being faced daily.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, and the Central Bank have found that food prices are increasing way beyond the costs of producing food. In other words, price gouging is taking place. Somewhere along the supply chain, someone is pocketing the difference and people are left to carry the burden. We have a food regulator whose job it is to shine a light on this but the Tánaiste's Government has tied its hands. Right now, it can only ask for information. It cannot compel supermarkets or processors to hand over data. Dunnes Stores has already refused to co-operate with the regulator's investigation on the price of eggs, fruit and vegetables. The regulator's chair, Mr. Joe Healy, has pleaded with the Government for stronger powers since last year. He is still waiting. Families are still waiting. We in the Social Democrats are not prepared to wait any longer. My colleague, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, will be bringing forward a Bill to give the regulator the power it needs. I urge the Government to support this Bill.

Parents are eating less and skipping meals so their children can eat. Pensioners are cutting back on heating and living in fear of the weekly shop. They deserve answers and transparency. Will the Government stop protecting profiteers and start protecting the public? When will the food regulator be given the powers it needs to stop price gouging?