Micheál Martin

The bottom line is if you are an existing tenant there will be no change.

It is as simple as that. There will be no change if you are an existing tenant, okay.

There is no reset at six years for an existing tenant. However, if-----

New tenancies, new builds and new apartments that will come on stream, hopefully, because this is about supply. With the greatest respect in the world, if we had adopted half of what Deputy Murphy proposed we would have no supply at all in the market. That is the fundamental difference. We need more apartments, we need more houses and we need more in the rental market. In many instances, when the…

When RPZs came in first, many people did not increase their rents. Quite a number did not. To keep momentum in the market and to keep people in the market, that is a balanced response to the current situation. We want to bring more investment in to build-----

It is capped at 2%. The second cap is CPI. Basically, there is a cap of whatever the inflation rate is. The inflation rate is forecast to be 2%, on average, for the next number of years. It is also the focus of the ECB to keep inflation at 2%.

If we do not tie it to CPI and freeze it as the Deputy is saying, why would anyone invest in any new apartment block? Why would anyone build a new house or a new apartment for rent if effectively they would begin to lose money within a couple of years? No one is going to make an investment decision on the basis, as the Deputy is proposing, that we have a rent freeze for three years or longer. No o…

We are extending it, making it national and giving stronger protections than tenants had before this package, which will be legislated for, was announced.

That is what I said.

You deliberately-----

It is interesting that in the exchange the Deputy acknowledged that it is new tenancies.

I have been saying since I came in that existing tenants would not have their rents increased beyond 2% as per the RPZ.

The Deputies are interrupting because they do not like the facts. The bottom line in respect of new tenancies is yes, in respect of tenancies where the tenant has left so the tenant does not get exorbitant increases. The balance here is that we need more investment into the market. I know the Deputy does not really believe in that.

The Deputy believes it should be the State in its entirety. That is a fundamental difference. I argue that if we were to take the Deputy's policies, we would have no new supply at all. That is a fundamental difference. I acknowledge that. The Deputy does not believe in a market-based economy. That is his position.

I happen to believe in a balanced economic framework where you have public sector investment, and we have unprecedented levels of State investment. However, you will need private sector investment to get the level of investment we require. I do not think the State can sustainably spend €20 billion per annum on housing alone. That will not suffice. I do not think the people want that sort of approa…

These figures are serious and of concern but they are from 2023, the year the data was collected. The Government had not yet, at that stage, brought in free school meals for all primary school students or free schoolbooks at second level. I am sure the Deputy would acknowledge these measures have had a significant impact on many families and are making a real difference to children in poverty, but…

At the weekend, I was in Nice for the United Nations Ocean Conference and took the opportunity to meet with a number of people in respect of this issue. The crew of the Madleen deserve our recognition. I pay tribute to their bravery and courage for profiling and keeping in the public and international spotlight the shocking situation in Gaza and the deprivation and starvation there. It brings to m…

I hope we can leverage significant international support for pressure to be put on Israel.

Then there will be the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting after that and then an European Council meeting-----

The reference to complicity in genocide is shocking and wrong. I genuinely mean that.

I do not in any way underestimate the Deputy’s sincerity on this issue. I respect it. She has been very consistent on this, but it is wrong to say others in this House are complicit in genocide when they most certainly are not.

It is a phrase that is thrown around too cheaply, and violence and criminal acts can emanate from that. Certain people are already engaging in criminal damage of TDs' offices and the Department of foreign affairs because of that handy phrase used to label everybody as complicit in genocide. Ireland is doing everything it possibly can on the key platforms for us to try to put pressure on Israel. Wh…

The legislation last week would have done nothing to change that.

The Central Bank may be in a position over time to do something.

There may be a route there, but that in itself is not going to change what is happening now.