I commend my colleague, Deputy Funchion, on bringing forward this very important motion. One thing on which we can probably all agree is that childcare costs are out of control, particularly in areas of high demand. The average cost of childcare for working families is astronomical in my constituency and it will be the same in the Minister's because we share a similar part of the city. The average cost of childcare for a single year can be €11,000, and, in some instances, families could be paying as much as €15,000…

I had a terrible sense of déjà vu when listening to the Minister. So many of the rhetorical flourishes of what he said were used by the then Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, when he stood in this Chamber and told us it was the most ambitious and radical State-backed plan in the history of the State, and again when the former Minister, Eoghan Murphy, stood in the Chamber and said the same thing. What has become a feature of this Government is the ever-growing gap betwee…

When the Minister introduced legislation to link rent reviews to the harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP, he said that inflation was running at approximately 0.4% in the previous four months. Of course, in the month the legislation was enacted, rental inflation was 1.9%, thereafter went up to 2.2% and is now at 3%. What will he do to ensure that if inflation continues to rise, people do not end up with rent caps that are higher than those applying to the reformed rent pressure zones, RPZs?

I thank the Minister for his response. The difficulty for many on this side of the House is that for a long time we advocated for rent certainty when that was the right policy but rents have now risen so high that a rental increase of 2%, 3%, 4% or possibly 5% is not sustainable, particularly for renters who have experienced a more than doubling in the cost of renting in the past decade. There have been 40% rental increases in Dublin since 2016 and 20% increases across the State. I accept the Minister's bona fides …

I thank the Minister. The crucial point is that the clock is ticking and that this was entirely foreseeable. In fact, I was not the only Deputy on the Opposition benches to say when the legislation was brought forward in May that this was likely to happen. If the Minister brings forward such a measure, it will get the support of the Opposition and, therefore, I urge him to bring it forward at the earliest possible opportunity. Of course, the worry is that a renter can currently face a rent increase of 3% if the lan…

As the Minister is aware, the programme for Government includes a commitment to "examine the issue of defective housing in the first twelve months of Government, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing report, 'Safe as Houses'". That report included the call for a latent defects redress scheme for homeowners who are affected by fire safety and water ingress defects. The group has been meeting, but it appears that it is much delayed. The 12-month deadline has not been met. I…

The difficulty is that, from memory, the Minister announced the working group in September 2020. He appointed the Chair in January or February. The group did not have its first meeting in March. A lot of time was wasted because, in my view, officials from the Minister's Department were trying to impose very restrictive terms of reference. That is a matter of public record. Thankfully, we have slightly better terms of reference now, but that wasted almost the full year within which the programme for Government promi…

Nobody is asking the Minister to put pressure on the group to rush the report; it is the very opposite. However, interim measures could have been considered. For example, for over two years now, the Construction Defects Alliance has been calling for access for homeowners who have had to pay those levies of €10,000 to €20,000 to the same treatment as private landlords currently have, whereby they can write off the cost of capital improvements against future tax liabilities, although preferably over a shorter period …

I commend Deputy Bacik and Senator Moynihan on bringing forward the Bill. It is very good legislation and it has the enthusiastic support of Sinn Féin.

Before commenting on the Bill, I wish to respond to some of the comments by members of the Government yesterday and today. During a similar and related debate yesterday, the Tánaiste stated that one person's rent is another person's income and that it was important for the Government to strike a balance between the needs and rights of landlords and those of tenants, a comment echoed today by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. That comment betrays an appalling ignorance of the reality in the rental market. The ve…

However, the proposition the Deputy has made is sound. It is really positive that the Bill deals with issues of adequacy and standards. Deputy Bacik is absolutely right to reference the report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, on housing adequacy and particularly looking at the groups of people systemically disadvantaged as a result of both poor access to housing and of the very poor standard of housing when they do access it. I and other Opposit…

In June 2016, as a newly elected Deputy to this House, the first Bill that I brought forward sought to link rent reviews to inflation. In that year, rents across the State rose by an alarming 14% and in Dublin by 15%. Some families were being hit with rent increases in the order of 20%. Unable to pay, they were forced into homelessness and despite the growing crisis in the rental sector, the Tánaiste and his party colleagues voted down the legislation. Thanks to them, rents continued to spiral out of control. More …

The more I listen to the Taoiseach, or the Tánaiste - excuse me, it is so confusing trying to know who is who in this Government - the more I realise he actually does not understand it. He said the Government has introduced a rent freeze in real terms. When the legislation was introduced inflation was at 1.9%. It then rose to 2.2% and it is now at 3%. Today in the Irish Independent , economists are quoted as saying it is likely to pass 4%. If it goes past 4%, will the Government accept the error of its ways and int…

So publish the report. Let people judge for themselves.

Too little, too late.

Rents are rising too dramatically.

What happens is renters suffer under your Government.

Dishonesty on your part has to be corrected on the floor of the Dáil.

I am probably the least aggressive Deputy in this House, with the greatest of respect.

By standing up for renters, bringing rents down and delivering affordable housing.