Rents across the State have risen above €2,000 per month for the first time ever according to the Daft.ie report published this morning. The biggest increases are in the four major cities outside Dublin. The cost of rent has risen by €168 per month in the Taoiseach's city of Cork. In Galway, rents are up €164 per month. In Waterford, they are up €163 per month. In Limerick, they are up €82 per month. Rip-off rents have almost doubled since Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael formed their partnership a decade ago. The availability of homes to rent has collapsed to its lowest level in 20 years. To make things even worse, the Government’s rent-hike legislation will kick in from Sunday next. This will open the floodgates and allow big property funds to hit renters with massive increases never seen before. That is obviously going to devastate the lives of renters right across the State. Can the Taoiseach answer a straight question? How on earth does the Government expect renters to afford these massive rent hikes, which mean, as stated, that rents have risen above €2,000 per month, not to mention what is about to come as a result of his policy decisions?

I accept that the price of rent puts a lot of pressure on people, particularly young people, and that is why we are working very hard to increase supply. There were 36,000 house completions last year. The most effective way to deal with rent prices and moderating them is by means of supply.

The Deputy knows that but what is Sinn Féin's response? It is to oppose housing applications and to oppose apartment construction. Its leader has now opposed the most recent development in her constituency, of hundreds of apartments. If you add it all up, she now has a fairly unenviable record-----

The Taoiseach should talk to his brother.

No, it does not work like that, Deputy Doherty.

-----of opposing, opposing, opposing.

How many has he opposed in Cork?

The only way we can deal with rent is supply.

Rents of €2,000 a month.