Inniu, d'fhoilsigh coiste tithíochta an Oireachtais tuarascáil shuntasach. Is é an moladh is suntasaí ná go dtabharfadh Rialtas an Tánaiste cosc éigeandála ar dhíshealbhuithe gan locht isteach arís. Tá an ceart ag an choiste. Tá géarghá le cosc den chineál sin anois níos mó ná riamh. Tá cíosanna ardaithe go dtí leibhéil nár fhaca muid le 25 bliain anuas. Tá an easpa dídine ag dul i méid i gcónaí agus taifid nua á mbriseadh gach mí. Tá líon na ndíshealbhuithe anois ag an leibhéal is airde ó aimsir an Ghorta Mhóir. Tá cúlbhinseoirí pháirtí an Tánaiste féin, Fine Gael, ag iarraidh ar an Rialtas gníomhú chun cosc ar dhíshealbhuithe gan locht a thabhairt isteach arís.

Today, the Oireachtas committee on housing published a major report. This report makes it clear that the Government is not doing enough to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis. It calls on the Government to introduce an emergency response to the crisis, including a ban on no-fault evictions. This call comes from TDs of all parties, including Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The committee is right. Such a ban is needed now more than ever. The situation was bad enough but the Government's rent hikes legislation has made things even worse. The consequences are plain to see. Rip-off rents have now jumped to their highest levels in 25 years. Homelessness rates continue to rise, breaking new records every single month. Evictions are now at the highest level since the Famine.

As a result of the Government's legislation, we have seen an alarming increase in the number of evictions since the start of this year. Many people and families now find themselves in desperate situations, seeking a new place to live. Those who can find a place face paying thousands and thousands extra in rent. Those who cannot find a place are left in awful situations. We are talking about working families with good jobs and sometimes with two incomes. We are talking about older people who have paid rent all their lives and parents who are robbed of the security they need to build a good life for them and their children.

It seems that everybody sees how bad things are except for the Tánaiste's Government. Even the Government parties' own backbenchers who helped drafted this report are now calling on the Government to act to reintroduce the ban on no-fault evictions. The writing is on the wall. If this intervention is not made immediately, many more people will be forced to move back into their parents' homes or insecure situations or, even worse, will find themselves in homelessness. There are many steps we can take to protect people.

A ban on no-fault evictions would provide people in housing difficulty with the safety net they need. It would relieve stress and pressure and give these people the security they need. It is not just Sinn Féin that is urging the Tánaiste to do this. This is a cross-party call for his Government to move with urgency and ambition to stem the flow of evictions. The Tánaiste now has an opportunity to make a real difference. For too long, the story of housing in Ireland has been a story of pressure, stress, desperation and hopelessness. That story can be changed, however. That tide can be turned. Hope can be restored for people who just want a secure home for them and their families. However, it has to start with better decisions. The Tánaiste has to make one of those decisions today. He has to make that difference. Will he tell people that he will make that decision and reintroduce a ban on no-fault evictions, as members of parties across this House have called for?

I thank Deputy Doherty for his question and I thank the Oireachtas committee on housing for its work. The committee report published this morning makes 14 recommendations. Of course, we will work our way through the report and consider all of the recommendations, as we do with all committee reports.

Page 5 of the report states that these committee recommendations arise from hearings held on 16 December last year. A number of decisions and actions have been taken by Government since then. As I look through the recommendations, I am pleased to say that many are in train or in place. The report calls for a greater focus on prevention and for increased funding, which we are providing. Very importantly, the committee recommends that the best interests of the child must be a key priority in addressing homelessness, and I believe everyone across the House can agree on that. We agree and that is why legislation is being brought forward to amend the Housing Act 1988 to ensure that consideration is given to the best interests of the child in the process of making decisions on accommodation for households. This is a key ask of many of those who work with homeless families across the country.

The report also seeks a child and family homelessness prevention plan. I am pleased to tell the House that this plan will be published before the summer recess. It is important work. We do not want to see anybody homeless in Ireland but we all particularly want to see progress made on children in homelessness. This plan is intended to drive a real focus on preventing children and families entering emergency accommodation while also providing enhanced supports for children who do experience homelessness. It will also include measures to accelerate exits and to reduce the time children and their families spend in homeless emergency accommodation. This was also a recommendation of the report.

The committee also recommends engagement with stakeholders. There has objectively never been more engagement but Government is always open to hearing any ideas from across this House as to what more could be done.

Since this committee hearing in December of last year, we have seen the legislation come into effect on 1 March 2026. That puts a range of protections in place in respect of tenancies. As the Deputy will know, we have extended the rent pressure zones nationwide. These now include the Deputy's own county of Donegal, which was previously not included. We brought in six-year tenancies. That is very important. We now live in a country where the majority of tenants are covered by an effective no-fault eviction ban. There was a debate in this House as to the right way to do that and there was debate about making sure that policies did not result in smaller landlords, those with one or two houses, leaving the market, causing a supply challenge. However, it is a statement of fact that there is now an effective no-fault eviction ban in place for the majority of tenants in the country. That also acts on a recommendation of the report.

We are also continuing a record level of investment in social housing, with €2.9 billion in capital allocated to support the delivery of social homes. We will continue to do that. The report is welcome. I take the Deputy's raising of the important issue of housing in the spirit intended. There is no more important domestic issue. However, it is not true to say that this cross-party report says that the Government should bring in a no-fault eviction ban. The cross-party report says "The Committee urges the Minister to keep all options under review including an emergency ban on no fault evictions". Of course, the Government keeps things under review. Let us not misrepresent the good cross-party work that was done in relation to this report.

The Tánaiste cannot seriously make up his own facts. He has twice said that it is a fact that the majority of tenancies are effectively subject to a no-fault eviction ban. That is not true and I think the Tánaiste knows that. This provision only applies to new tenancies and not existing tenancies. It also only applies to tenancies with large landlords. Please stop making stuff up. I know it is very difficult to defend the situation the Tánaiste finds himself in but a bit of truth and honesty would be welcome.

The committee is very clear. Not enough is being done and we need an emergency response. The Tánaiste is right that the hearings were held in December but the committee only launched its report this morning. What has happened since December? Rents and house prices have continued to rise, homelessness records have been broken over and over again, and the number of evictions has gone through the roof because of Government legislation allowing landlords to increase rents over and over again. Something has to give. The Tánaiste is not listening to Sinn Féin, to advocacy groups or to people who are under serious housing pressure. Perhaps it is time for him to listen to some of his backbenchers, who are saying that there is now a need for an emergency response. The Tánaiste can shake his head all he wants but the reality is that we are seeing more evictions. We are seeing rents at their highest levels in 25 years. Despite this, the Tánaiste somehow thinks that everything is rosy in the garden and that the Government is doing everything it needs to. There is a need to introduce a ban on no-fault evictions at this point in time. The Government needs to relieve this pressure and this stress for people. There are options. The Government can stem the tide. It can take measures that will make a meaningful difference in people's lives. I again ask whether the Government will bring forward a ban on no-fault evictions, as has been recommended.

While Deputy Doherty can speak for Sinn Féin, he certainly does not speak for Fine Gael backbench TDs or Senators.

They speak for themselves.

I have seen what they said.

I speak for the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party.

It is here in black and white.

It is not helpful for the people at home or those in the Gallery for people to shout me down. The reality is that I speak for the Government in his House today and, as its leader, I speak for the Fine Gael Party.

We will follow our policy agenda, which is clearly published, while the Deputy will come into this House and continue to oppose and object every positive measure that we bring forward. Of course, the comments that I have made in relation to no-fault evictions apply to tenancies in place since the legislation came in. How could it apply to anything else? We have put that in since the legislation in March. The Deputy knows that------

So, it is not the fact.

It is not the vast majority.

-----to be true. We have also taken a number of other measures, including this week, with more than €800 million through the housing, activation and infrastructure office to help counties right across this country to put in place key enabling pieces of infrastructure that are required to deliver more homes. Housing is an emergency in this country. Housing is a real challenge. The cross-party committee has done good work. Do not misrepresent what it has said, though. It has not said to bring in a no-fault eviction ban. It has said to keep all things under review. It has made 14 recommendations. Many of them are under way. Many of them merit further consideration. They will, of course, all be taken very serious.