Departmental Functions
Dail Éireann — 2022-02-09
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

I will ask a very straightforward question, which hopefully can get a straightforward response. What does the Taoiseach believe is an affordable rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dublin? This week, South Dublin County Council announced that people will shortly be able to apply for its first affordable rental scheme. Rents for a one-bedroom apartment will be approximately €1,000 a month. Ten years ago, the average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the area was less than €750. We now have this so-called affordable option for €1,000. If the Government's definition of "affordable" is not actually affordability but instead taking a completely sky-high unaffordable market rate and then chopping 30% off it, it is still unaffordable. It does not make it affordable for ordinary people. Does the Taoiseach think €1,000 is affordable or does he agree we need to build genuinely affordable housing with rents linked to people's incomes and not to the market?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-02-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-02-09