2026-06-25

85. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he is taking to address rent increases in Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48101/26]

What measures is the Minister taking to address rent increases in Kerry? We recently saw a three-bedroom house in the town of Tralee with an asking price of €2,400 per month. In the public sector, increased rents are being asked for by local authorities. However, because services have been stripped from the local municipal district, in houses 11 to 16 in Mountain View in Balloonagh Estate in Tralee, sewage is backing up and coming into the houses and the local authority does not even have a jetting machine to allow it to address the issue. It is reliant on contractors who are coming in from other areas to address the issue. That is not fair when people are continuing to pay their rents.

I thank the Deputy for his question about addressing rent increases in Kerry. As he will know, the key to solving the housing crisis, which includes homelessness and high rents, is through increased supply. That is why the Government is providing record funding towards the supply of homes. It is also why we are taking emergency measures to address the delivery of homes. We are also taking other measures. As the Deputy will be aware, under the housing infrastructure investment fund, we announced significant funding for County Kerry only last week for additional housing. My understanding is that those projects are shovel ready and will be ready to move quickly. The Lohercannon distributor road, L6715 Ashgrove Road and link road directly unlock lands for 450 residential units and indirectly unlock a further 788 homes, with an indicative cost of under €10 million. The Killarney strategic links and new transport link between the N22 Killarney and bypass and the R876 Park Road directly unlock lands for 500 residential units and indirectly unlock a further 581 residential units, at an indicative cost band of €10 million to €20 million. This shows our commitment to Kerry and to delivering additional houses in the county, not just through funding housing delivery but also ensuring the infrastructure is put in place, working with the ESB and Uisce Éireann, to ensure that the other capacity measures go through with it. Affordability is central to the Government's housing policy under Delivering Homes, Building Communities, which targets the delivery of 300,000 new homes by 2030, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable homes. The Government is committed to tackling high rents and ensuring an increase in the supply, as I say, of affordable, high-quality rental accommodation through continued significant capital investment, including cost-rental, affordable purchase and social homes, in a manner that respects the security of tenure for renters by ensuring equity and fairness for tenants and landlords. On the topic of the delivery of more social homes, last year we built the highest number in the history of the State. That also frees up properties in the rental market to help control prices.

There might have been the highest number built in the history of the State, as the Minister said, but it happened at a time when the population was way higher than it was in the 1960s and 1950s. The Minister said the answer is to increase supply but, unfortunately, what we have seen is an awful lot of extra houses in Adamstown and on the quays in Dublin. The supply in County Kerry is way behind. The result is that renters in Kerry have seen increases in the region of €3,000 annually, which is a 26% jump. It is a body blow for people whose rents are increasing when, unfortunately, their wages are not increasing by the same amount to match those increases. If current tenancy trends continue, the average tenancy will be three and a half years, with 25% of tenancies being new each year. The vast majority of renters in the private sector will be swept into this market reset. The problem is that people in County Kerry are on waiting lists. They are waiting for supply for ten, 12 and sometimes 14 years. The town councils still have not been restored and the guaranteed increase in supply is not there. People are waiting and rents are increasing because supply is so low.

I thank the Deputy. We are making significant funding available to increase the numbers of social and affordable housing. I encourage the Kerry local authority to maximise the use of the available funding to deliver social homes and affordable purchase homes across County Kerry. The Department will not be found wanting in supporting an increase in the supply of homes. The key to challenging high rents is, as I say, supply. That is not just the supply of private homes. We must also ensure that more social homes are built. As I say, that moves people who are availing of the housing assistance payment, HAP, for example, into social homes and frees up properties in the private rental market. That will help to address availability and affordability. All of these measures are interconnecting. I am conscious that rents are too high. I am conscious that people are struggling to find properties to rent and that is why the Government is providing record funding to address the housing crisis not just on the east coast but in every county across this country.

Unfortunately, I have not heard the Minister say anything about what needs to be done. Does the Government have any plans to cut rents? Has it plans to ban increases or protect the renters who are faced with big rent increases? The Minister has not mentioned anything about students. They are going to have to pay the market rent from September. That is another tax on their education. We all know that Munster Technological University, MTU, in Tralee and other colleges around the country do not have the power to borrow and are not building their own accommodation, which could be more affordable. The Minister mentioned the affordable homes scheme but there are practically no affordable homes in Kerry. It is ridiculous to talk about the affordable homes scheme in Kerry because there are none. There was practically zero emergency accommodation in 2011 but there are now huge amounts, catering for approximately 14,000 or 15,000 people. Since the town councils were abolished, there has been a concentration of emergency accommodation in Tralee, which is creating an imbalance. Everywhere that the Government has tried to address housing it has made a hames of it, for people starting off in life and those at the end of their days in nursing homes.

We want Kerry County Council to provide more affordable purchase homes. The Department and Government would support it. Those homes are essential. I want everybody, across the spectrum, to be able to get the homes they need in their own local community, whether through private purchase, affordable homes or social housing. It is essential that everybody can access a home. Affordable purchase is essential for people who are on lower incomes but incomes that are above the social housing thresholds to be able to get that permanent home. I want the local authority in County Kerry to provide more affordable purchase. The Government is, as I say, providing record funding. We have built record numbers of social homes. We have also built a record number of cost-rental homes. All of this is about driving supply to address the crisis. Every home built helps to alleviate that, no matter what its tenure.