I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable the Health Information and Quality Authority to inspect certain emergency homeless residential accommodation in respect of which assistance has been or is being given under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 by a local authority within the meaning the Local Government Act 2001, to enable Health Information and Quality Authority to inspect reception centres and accommodation centres provided for asylum seekers to which the European Communiti…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — average rents increased by 7 per cent in the last year according to the Q2 2021 Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent index report; — in the RTB rent index report nine counties experienced average rent increases of more than 10 per cent and all counties experienced average rent increases of more than 4 per cent; — the September Central Statistics Office (CSO) Consumer Price Index shows that the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices increased by 3.8 per cent in the last 12 mon…

Yes.

The purpose of tabling this motion tonight was to highlight the abject failure of the Government to provide any immediate, urgent relief for those in the rental sector struggling with sky-high rents. The Government has been in office for nearly 15 months and none of the legislation to which the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, referred has done anything either to stop the upward movement of rents or bring rents down. I want to respond to some of the comments the Minister made before he left the Chamber. He is righ…

Yesterday, the plight of private renters dominated Leaders' Questions, and rightly so. The budget did not contain a single measure to ease the burden of sky-high rents. The only mention of the private rental sector was the extension of a tax relief to landlords. In response, the Taoiseach deliberately conflated the social rental sector with private renters. He talked about the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. Does he not realise that increasing these expensive, short-term s…

Not only has the Tánaiste's response confirmed that he lacks empathy for the struggle of renters, it also shows that he does not even understand the housing crisis. The Central Statistics Office released two important pieces of information today. House prices have increased by a staggering 10.9% across the State in the past year. That is why people cannot own their home and why, under the Tánaiste's leadership of Fine Gael, home ownership as a percentage of the total housing stock has continued to decline. Saying t…

We need 4,000 genuinely affordable homes to buy every year. What has the Tánaiste done?

While you evaded the questions again, Tánaiste.

And 4,000 affordable homes to purchase each year.

Once again, the Tánaiste is deliberately misleading the House.

We would provide 4,000 affordable homes to purchase each year. I have told the Tánaiste that three times. All the Government is providing is 500 affordable homes to purchase. I can say it a fourth time if the Tánaiste did not hear me.

And pushed up house prices.

Nothing.

What has the Government done for private renters?

Inflation is 4%. How is that a rent freeze? The dishonesty is incredible.

It would be nice if the Government was honest with the people for a change.

My apologies.

Hear, hear.

I have to say, "Dear, oh dear, oh dear, what has got into the Minister for housing?" Not only was his short intervention ill-tempered but he did not even have the courtesy to remain and listen to Opposition spokespeople. Not only is he unwilling to debate us on the airwaves, it appears he is not even willing to sit and listen to what we have to say in the Chamber. People can make up their own minds about that. What I would have liked the Minister to hear is the following: there is a dishonesty at the very heart of …