She then said this morning that if the Government is intent on using institutional funds, it is on the wrong track. Well, go back a few weeks and just replay what Deputy Eoin Ó Broin said on Virgin TV where he acknowledged-----
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
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Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
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-----and recognised a role for institutional funds in the Irish market.
Who do I believe here? Do I believe Deputy McDonald this morning? Do I believe Deputy Ó Broin? Do they believe there is a role for institutional funds? Or, when it is into politics, they just change the term and call them "vulture funds", because it plays well, or they think it plays well.
It is just clichéd bingo announcements. That is all they are at. I heard the Deputy this morning.
It was just bluff and bluster. The bottom line here is-----
I have answered the questions.
If we look at what Threshold said, for example, it said it is very clear that "the changes announced today will - with well-designed legislation and effective enforcement – this will be a huge jump forward in providing long-term stability to renters." It welcomed the national extension of rent pressure zones. We will be bringing in legislation to deal with that specifically as quickly …
Threshold is saying that for the first time, private renters could have secure occupancy of their home for a set period, something that does not currently exist, and Deputies opposite are attacking all of this. They are making absolutely false assertions, because all they are interested in is the politics of this and how they can exploit the housing situation to get electoral or political gain for the party.
They have no solutions and no proposals, in terms of the supply side of this.
The Housing Agency provides the platform for the review that the Government has acted on. We have acted. We have taken decisions. I am not hanging around here. I am not interested in Deputy McDonald's bluff and bluster because it will contribute nothing to housing supply in this country. That is the bottom line. I did listen to Deputy McDonald this morning and she said to me it was back of the envelope stuff.
What does Deputy McDonald say? She says Government wants to take the shackles off the big funds, which is a great sound bite. She says she has asked the Government to stop screwing things up. When asked about Sinn Féin's alternative plan, it is to enable the builders to just get out and build. What a fantastic plan. What a really detailed plan that is really going to get things going, is it not? Then, of course, she …
She then finishes by saying, here is my solution. She says, "For the love of God, get the builders building. That is my plan."
I thank the Deputy very much for raising this issue. It is a very serious and shocking situation. The revelations on "RTÉ Investigates", in particular, must have been deeply traumatic for families with loved ones in nursing homes generally but particularly in the two nursing homes that were covered by "RTÉ Investigates". It is particularly concerning that the regulatory authority did not capture or unearth this, part…
Yes, the Government has made that clear. We will be doing that. It is in the programme for Government. There is a forthcoming national policy on adult safeguarding for the health and social care sector that will set out how existing protections will be strengthened. That will be brought to Government shortly-----
-----and that will commit to the development of adult safeguarding legislation for the sector. We have included the health (adult safeguarding) Bill in our current legislative programme to facilitate this. On a more broader sense, we are looking at a combination. I am trying to be realistic here and respond meaningfully to what the Deputy has articulated. I do not disagree with a lot of what she said. However, there …
No, I do not. Just because you use what I would call exaggerated language does not make it true.
I repeat that the bottom line is that all existing tenants will not have their rents increased beyond 2%. No attempts by the Deputy to sow confusion will change that reality. The more fundamental point in his presentation is that he and his party do not believe in a role for the market.
I listened to Deputy Hearne, his party spokesperson, say this.
Deputy Hearne does not believe in a role for the market. He said this. That is his position.
He said it plenty of times. That is the bottom line.
He has undermined-----
Sorry, I did not interrupt once.
What is intriguing is-----
You have attacked and condemned institutional funds-----
Ah come on. I know your-----
Ah you can. Sure you make them up every day for God's sake.