On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our deepest sympathies to Grace Lynch's family. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, boyfriend and extended community today.

This Government was elected on promises that it was addressing the housing disaster. Many people struggling to buy and rent a home believed it. They took the Taoiseach at his word, they trusted him and many of them voted for him. Those people have been looking on as promise after promise that was made to them has turned to dust. The legislation the Cabinet signed off on today is the latest betrayal of these people. Between tenancies, landlords will be allowed to hike up rents to match the market rate. Just to be clear, the market rate is effectively a rate that is set by landlords. Every expert before the housing committee said this would result in higher rents. Ireland already has some of the highest rents in Europe. Incredibly, today's decision will drive them even higher. Why is the focus of this Government constantly on the protection of landlords' profits? When we consider the context, we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents have already doubled over the last ten years and there are 16,000 homeless people, of whom nearly 5,000 are children. It says a lot that this Government's legislation today is not directly focused on urgently helping them.

I have to wonder if the Government is even aware of how high rents are at the moment and what new tenants could be forced to pay under market rent. Today, a two-bedroom apartment in Dublin is going for €3,400 per month. In Cork, it is €2,250, in Galway, it is €3,000, and in Limerick, it is €2,800. All of these prices are from daft.ie today and they are only going in one direction - up. Does the Taoiseach believe these rents are acceptable and affordable? Does he think they should go up? The Government can dress this up whatever way it wants and can try its level best to spin this Bill as protection for renters, but no one is going to buy it. This Government has not just failed to deliver on housing; it has repeatedly misled people about that failure. The reality is, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have spent a decade turning a housing crisis into more and more of a disaster. Now, instead of admitting this and changing its approach, it is doubling down, making renters pay the price of Government failure again by using them as sacrificial lambs and bleeding them dry in the hope of boosting supply. It is not too late to change course. The Government could increase protections for renters instead of stripping them away. It could introduce a three-year rent freeze and use that time to boost supply of affordable homes using a State construction company and modular home factories. How can the Taoiseach stand over a plan that will drive record-high rents even higher?

First, I reject the spin the Deputy has put on the legislation the Cabinet approved today in respect of rent. Fundamentally, to summarise, what we are now looking at is national rent regulation and national rent control across the entire country.

That is an outcome of this Bill. There will be strengthened protection for renters through the introduction of tenancies of minimum duration. That has not happened before. There is an effective end to no-fault evictions. It includes the establishment of a rent price register, which brings much needed transparency, and arrangements to reset rent to market rate only every six years. That is part of a wider set of measures the Government announced over the past 12 months, which have laid the foundations for significant movement and progress on the housing front.

The Deputy forgot to say that the tenancies of the over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not be impacted in any way by this legislation. She just ignored that and spun it differently. She deliberately misled people by saying what she said, in terms of the spinning of it and so on. The measures are only for new tenancies that start from 1 March. That is very clear. In our view - Deputy Cairns may differ - this is the most significant improvement in rental protection in the history of the State. From now on, when tenants sign a lease, they can have far more confidence in terms of where they are living. They will be there for a minimum of six years. The restrictions are much more significant now than they would have been on landlords in terms of eviction.

I make the wider point that the Housing Commission recommended that we reform the rent pressure zones, RPZs. That was a very clear recommendation from the Housing Commission. Yes, we are balancing but there is very strong protective regulation here. We must also increase supply. I argue that what Deputy Cairns and her party have proposed for the past two or three years would dampen supply and disincentivise investment and would not have any significant impact in terms of reducing rent. That is inescapable in terms of the Deputy's idea of a rent freeze. It is all very popular but it would undermine the rental market very significantly and to such an extent that you would have a depression in supply. We want more supply and we need more supply, obviously. Already, the indications are quite positive in respect of both the budgetary measures on VAT and these particular reforms.

It is also interesting in terms of a fairer system. Dr. Michael Byrne from the school of social policy, social work and social justice in University College Dublin has made the point that what is being missed in the current discussion is that the new legislation is designed, once established, to reduce the level of notices of termination.

The Taoiseach saying that this is the most significant improvement for renters shows how low the bar is for renters in terms of improvements. Listening to him, it is easy to understand why people feel such despair about housing. The Government is out of ideas. We need a radical reset on housing and this Government just will not deliver that because that would mean admitting failure, and the Taoiseach does not seem capable of that.

Rents are at record levels and this legislation will drive them even higher. The Taoiseach can criticise the Social Democrats all he likes with his usual, baseless attacks, but the housing disaster is getting worse on his watch. It does not have to be like this. He could take radical action and prioritise renters and those who want to own their own home. He chooses not to.

The Taoiseach did not answer the question, so I will ask it again. How can he stand over a plan that will drive rents even higher?

I did but I noticed the Deputy's supplementary question was pre-scripted. I have no issue discussing with the Deputy. Let us put the scripts away and let us debate it. Let us talk. I do not use scripts all the time. I am just saying that I made a few points-----

What is the point in that? Answer the question.

No, the point is this. It is clear the Deputy was not listening to what I was saying. She just has empty soundbites that she just pronounces. They are good. They sound well but there is a desperate lack of substance in what the Deputy is saying about housing. I equally argue the Social Democrats have not come up with solutions.

There is record homelessness.

Earlier, the Deputy spoke about a construction company. How long does she think that will take to set up?

How long has the Taoiseach been in government?

That is why those kind of policies do not resonate with people because they do not see solutions there either. I acknowledge housing is a huge issue. It is an enormous issue. It is the number one issue facing our society. We are throwing the kitchen sink at it in terms of public sector investment. We are trying to get additional private sector investment in because we must. Deputy Cairns does not want to tolerate private sector investment and she is against it.

That is not true.

We need €20 billion a year to get to 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year.

Let us put aside the soundbites and ask ourselves a question. How do we get to 50,000 or 60,000 houses per year because that is what is required?

Get you out of government.

What is the policy on rents?

Less developer-led policies; that is what-----

I thank the Taoiseach. The time is up. I call Deputy Gogarty.

Everywhere is going up.

Deputy Gogarty, please.