Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26 ============================================================ Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow I thank Deputy Sheehan for raising the matter and the impact of the real cost-of-living pressures, the current conflict and how, for the purposes of his question, they are having a particular impact on those renting as well. I will make a couple of points. One of the reasons the Government this week provided a package of €250 million for a time-bound period was a recognition that the economic medicine we are endeavouring to administer now may need a different type of prescription in the time ahead. I say that genuinely with humility because I cannot predict - respectfully, no one in this House can, and I am not sure there are many people in the world who can - where the scale of economic challenge will go and where the key areas of pressure may be in the time ahead. The Deputy has not done this, but I certainly would not want the Government's position to be misrepresented to suggest we are talking about the end of May and then we will see an end to this moment of economic challenge. That is not looking likely, based on what we see now. We may well have to come back to the House at future moments and indeed in budgets in the time ahead and have conversations about further assistance and interventions to support our economy and our people, should this conflict go on for a prolonged period. I know we all hope it de-escalates and ends because the quickest way to provide economic stability and move through this period of economic challenge is, of course, for this awful conflict to stop. That is before we even get to the humanitarian impact of war, which we should never be numb to in this House. I disagree with the Deputy on how investors are presented. Even the Housing Commission report recognised that while the Government has to continue to invest more in housing, private investment will also be required. We need people to come to this country and invest privately in building and providing homes too. That is good and I think all parts of this island, and the Administrations in both parts of this island, were represented in trying to attract investment at the event in Cannes. On short-term lets, the Deputy makes a fair point that this has been going on for quite a while. It is important we get it right and we are moving towards legislating on this. I have had very good meetings with the Ministers, Deputies Burke and Browne, in recent days on it. We want to make sure we can provide additional housing stock but also protect housing stock for the tourism industry, particularly in rural Ireland. We almost have a way forward on that. We have a different view when it comes to protections for renters. I genuinely believe the Bill we brought forward does bring in a suite of measures to protect tenants, the likes of which we have not seen in this country before. There will be six-year tenancies for the first time ever. The RPZs will be done on a nationwide basis for the first time ever. I recall when this Dáil was first convened many in the Opposition thought the Government was going to get rid of the RPZs. Not only did we not get rid of the RPZs, we made them nationwide. As well as that we brought in what are effectively bans on no fault evictions for future tenancies. I am concerned about what the Deputy said about the case in County Sligo. There are clear rules but there is also basic compassion and decency. If the Deputy sends me further details, I would be very happy to look into it. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-26