Micheál Martin

I did not interrupt the Deputy. He does not own the place. He should have the decency to allow an exchange between me and the Labour Party leader. He has not assumed the status of leader yet and may not for a long time to come.

The fundamental point is that as a result of these packages, we have a national framework of protection. Existing tenants will keep the RPZ at 2%. If we get new builds, which is what we want to do, new tenancies will be capped at the CPI. The protections from no-fault evictions by landlords with four tenancies or more are very significant, and there are other protections and there will be other sa…

That is the reality. If we forget all the noise, the sound and fury and go through it detail by detail, this is a well-balanced package. We are talking about all existing tenants staying at 2% as per the existing RPZs, which the Opposition wanted retained. They are being retained for existing tenants. We do need supply.

Surely Deputy Bacik agrees that we need more supply. We need more apartment building and what is needed for that? Certainty. We need policy certainty for renters and investors. That is what this package provides, because we do need private sector investment in apartment building. The final point I would make is that this is but one of a suite of measures that have been taken and are being taken to…

If the Deputy reads the Housing Agency report - and I invite her to do so in its entirety - and looks at the ESRI analysis of the rental market, in reviewing both the domestic and international literature and so on, she will see there has been a negative impact, particularly in 2021, on measures we took on supply into the residential market. That is in the report. There must be a balance. I take i…

-----than had been the case, on top of protections which we brought in over the past number of years. Over the past number of years stronger and stronger protections have been brought in for tenants and renters. That will continue under this measure and will be even stronger again in return-----

Existing tenancies are capped and will remain capped at 2%.

Yes, that is what it says.

Deputy Ó Broin will have a chance later. The fundamental objective is twofold: policy certainty and protection for renters and increased supply. I respect Deputy O'Callaghan's commitment and interest in this, but he and his party have been very weak on the supply side. All of its proposals over the past three years, cumulatively, would reduce supply and do nothing to increase it. We have a fundame…

The involvement of the State is enormous. It has to be balanced and supplemented with significant private sector investment. This is just one measure. On its own it will not do it. It will need to be accompanied by other measures. Last week, we took a decision to legislatively roll over planning permissions that might have been delayed by judicial reviews to keep supply going. It has to be about s…

First, the one proposal the Deputy's party has come forward with is the savings incentive scheme.

I will answer the question.

The scheme the Social Democrats came forward with would take years to accumulate the funding for investment. It would not produce a single house over the next three to four years.

In respect of Finland, the Deputy is correct.

I am answering the question.

Three points were made. I am going to deal with them. The second one was on institutional investment. Finland is a good example of where institutional investment had a huge impact on house construction and apartment construction.

Third, Germany is a bad example-----

-----of where the rent pressure controls the Deputies are advocating created a huge decline well below the market rate. There are many tenancies at the moment-----

-----well below the market rate. If some tenant exits-----

If a tenant exits that-----

Ceann Chomhairle, there has been repeated interruption-----

If there had not been interruption, I could have dealt with all four points.

No it does not.

But the Deputies announced that march before the proposal was even announced.

That sums it up. The Deputies just change the narrative every time it suits.