During last night's Dublin City Council budget meeting, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party and the Green Party voted to give social housing tenants a Christmas gift of higher rents. This is a deeply cynical, regressive move that punishes working people for the Government's unwillingness to properly fund social housing. It was opposed by Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and Independent councillors. Councillor Mannix Flynn did not vote against this increase in rents just in time for Christmas.

There has been a suggestion that council tenants have not had an increase in rent for years, but the reality is that their rent goes up every time their household income does. There is a rent increase every single time there is an increase in income. Dublin City Council has claimed it is going to improve the maintenance in the flats and housing stock. Nobody believes this because when you look at the conditions people have to live with, such as overcrowding, mould, rats, faulty appliances and broken doors, there is just general neglect, and it is and has become the norm within social housing in Dublin. The suggestion that an increase in rent is going to improve that is farcical and, like I said, no one is going to believe it. The council says the increase in rent will help maintenance, but that is not a solution. It does not offer any hope for residents that will actually result in more resources on the ground. They will not see any more resources on the ground. HAP tenants who, in many cases, are already paying extortionate rents, are just going to be squeezed even tighter. The Minister has to come in and explain what he is going to do to address the shortfall in funding for public housing.