Micheál Martin

Rents have been too high for a long time. Why?

It is because there is a shortage of supply.

The Deputies have had their chance. With respect, they should allow democracy to take place.

The one thing I observed in the presentation by Deputy McDonald was the absence of any solution, the absence of any idea except to ban rent hikes-----

-----which will destroy supply. Any international organisation analysing the rental market or any property market has said time and again that rent controls or the freezing of rents just reduces supply, kills the market for the long term and will keep prices at too high a level. The Housing Commission recommended that we had to change the rental situation in terms of the rent pressure zones.

Again, Sinn Féin Members are interrupting and again they do not have either the manners or the cop-on to listen to some rational arguments on this question.

With the greatest of respect, Deputy, you went off to Davy Stockbrokers. You went off to all that gang before the election and we saw the incoherence of your response.

Again, recommendations for reform came from the Housing Commission, the ESRI, and the Housing Agency.

The bottom line was this. What was in place could not be sustained. Equally, it is about supply-----

In terms of our proposals and what is happening, we had 36,000 additional houses last year. Supply ultimately will moderate rent increases.

Daft.ie data is asking prices. It is not the complete data set for the entire rental market in the country. Deputies should know that. That is the bottom line. The asking prices are usually greater than usual. The Central Statistics Office, in its monthly change analysis, showed a figure of 0.3% in quarter 1 of 2026. The Residential Tenancies Board covers the entire population of tenancies, which …

There is no doubt that, with the change, there was going to be an impact on the market. There was no question about that. It was actually said at the time by various agencies. The bottom line is that there had to be certainty given to the landscape because we are spending about €9 billion of State money. The direct State intervention in the housing market is around €9 billion. The Central Bank say…

They are very poor.

They are shocking.

All Sinn Féin offered the last time was a house without the land. Actually, Deputies may feign a laugh-----

-----but I would challenge anybody-----

What has been unacceptable is that there has been a deliberate attempt to interrupt and heckle.

I did not interrupt Deputy McDonald.

With the greatest respect, it is just plain stupid to go on about the greatest evictions since the Famine. That is not being serious about our housing problems.

We have a housing crisis here but all I see from the Opposition-----

All I see from the Opposition, Sinn Féin in particular, is empty rhetoric, no solutions and the usual sloganeering. That will not build houses. I have a document here with all the objections of those parties' representatives. They objected to housing project after housing project.

I understand this is about politics and electoral politics. What I am determined to do-----

No, it is not.

Deputy Ó Broin is empty in terms of policy formulation.

You are empty on substance, Deputy Ó Broin. You have no substance when it comes to housing.