Two reports that came out today are damning of the Government’s housing policy. The latest rental report from daft.ie shows that rip-off rents were up another staggering 10% in the final three months of last year. New figures also reveal that cuckoo funds, courtesy of sweetheart tax deals provided by the Government, massively outbid ordinary house buyers for family homes and then rent them back to those people at extortionate rates. On the Taoiseach's watch, affordability has gone out the window. These rack rents m…

The Taoiseach does not need to do any kind of deep dive just to come across these figures. A rent of €1,500 or €2,000 per month is simply unaffordable. It seems that he does not actually understand what is happening. He seems to be suggesting the funds build the houses in question; they do not.

They acquire them, and they do so by outbidding ordinary families and workers who simply want to purchase a home and put a roof over their heads. That is what is happening. Does the Taoiseach know what his policy is doing? It is making a bad situation worse. It is demonstrating that the wrong kind of supply can actually make the situation worse. The average renters find themselves in a nightmare of the Government's construction. They are being fleeced for high rent by the funds that have sweetheart and favourable a…

It does.

Apartments-----

Apartments are homes.

It is about affordable supply and the right supply.

Hear, hear.

Absolutely.

Hear, hear.

A survey conducted by SIPTU has found that 41% of childcare professionals are actively seeking a job in another sector. It also found that childcare managers have indicated major difficulties in the recruitment of staff. This should not come as a shock to the Government because early years professionals are very poorly paid and their conditions are in need of massive improvement. Indeed, the vast majority of childcare workers struggle to make ends meet. They regularly do work for which they are not paid and, astoni…

Merci beaucoup . For more than a year, households have been hammered by a cost-of-living crisis that is out of control. Workers and families do all they can to keep up with sky-high bills and runaway price increases, but people still cannot catch a break or catch a breath. They are crucified by the extortionate costs of housing, energy, fuel, groceries and insurance and everything going up and nothing coming down. Last night, a Minister of State offered people advice on dealing with this cost-of-living crisis. His …

What people who are living this struggle have had is delay, dithering and lack of clarity from the Government bar the one Minister of State who was very clear and told people to stop complaining and shop around. I take it from the Taoiseach that that is not the official advice from the Government. The Government should stop dithering and should intervene in a way that is proportionate to the real struggles facing people. At the time of the budget, the Government fell short on social welfare adult payments and in th…

People cannot pay their bills today, this week or this month.

The Taoiseach is comparing a novel to a human rights report.

The Taoiseach might read the Amnesty International report.

Read the report.

Earlier, the Taoiseach described the latest report of the Police Ombudsman as deeply concerning. It is indeed shocking and sheds light on the activities of British state agents and on their connection to 27 loyalist murders and attempted murders in south Belfast between 1990 and 1998. As he will know, this is just the latest report setting out the nature of the relationship between the British state and loyalist paramilitary gangs. As the Taoiseach knows, collusion was a reality for nationalists in the North. Brita…

Has the Taoiseach spoken to them on the back of these reports?

Last week, the Tánaiste expressed his frustration with the Government's slow rate of progress in accelerating plans and ambitions for renewable electricity and new fuels such as green hydrogen. If the programme for Government's commitments are to be realised, a Government-led hydrogen strategy is urgent. We can lead from the front on green hydrogen. This is the view of public and private energy providers, all of whom emphasise the role of green hydrogen in meeting our 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Currently, Scotl…