Micheál Martin

You have no substance whatsoever and the proof of the pudding was in the last election when people did not buy your pig in a poke. You got it wrong and your party knows you got it wrong.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist phráinneach seo a ardú. Aontaím léi go bhfuil an méid foréigean i gcoinne ban sa tír seo uafásach. I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important issue. What we witnessed yesterday in terms of the revelations in the court case involving Paul Moody was quite shocking and horrendous and the level of abuse evident in that case made for extremely…

These have all been significant, and then there is the implementation of the O'Malley report-----

-----on the journey of the victims.

That reform is under way and is continuing. We have been fairly open to any constructive amendments in respect of the various legislative mechanisms that have been introduced. The Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 will restrict the disclosure of counselling records in sexual offence trials and criminalise the exploitative practice of sex in lieu of rent. The criminal …

On all fronts-----

-----we are going to proceed with this agenda.

First of all, again, rents have been too high for far too long. Any economist will say there is only one way to deal with this and it is supply. We need more supply and we need it more rapidly. The Government is taking decisions that will ensure over time we get more supply. It is going to take time and that was said at the time.

With respect, I did not interrupt.

I have not interrupted anybody here. I am going to make this point, and it is a fair point. I have looked at the Deputy's proposals. There is nothing in her proposals that would increase supply over the next three years anything over and above what the Government is doing. In fact, it would be less. I have looked at her State construction company idea. It would be three or four years down the lin…

That is the Deputy's party's position. You have said it a lot of times, Deputy Hearne. You have been saying it.

The RTB data shows we have about 246,000 tenancies, the highest on record. In terms of daft.ie data, it indicates asking prices but it is not comprehensive. The RTB does a more comprehensive dataset in terms of the entirety of the market. One has to take these figures with some degree of care, as the author himself acknowledges that the report has to be examined with care. That has to be said. The…

The bottom line is what was happening over the past four to five years prior to the change was not sustainable. The Deputy knows that. The Housing Commission said it was not sustainable. The ESRI said it was not sustainable. Everybody accepted it was not sustainable.

Therefore certainty had to be given to the market, and also additional protections. In terms of existing tenancies, they have not been impacted in any shape or form by this to the same extent. Again-----

No, they have not been impacted and the Deputy knows that too but that will not get said. We are talking in terms of the newer tenancies here. We need more supply.

Sin an rud is tábhachtaí. Caithfimid i bhfad níos mó tithe a chur ar fáil chomh tapaigh agus is féidir linn agus sin atá faoi chaibidil ag an Rialtas.

I do not think the Social Democrats' proposals are credible. They are so sparse. They are so lacking in detail. They are not fleshed out. I genuinely do not think the Social Democrats' policies on housing are credible. They talk about a savings and investment scheme.

It would take years to implement. They know that.

The issue here is not funding. The State has put up €9 billion.

The Deputy knows. Let us talk about the savings and investment scheme that they put forward. How would that bring rents down next year? How would it bring rents down the year after? It would not add one additional supply of housing-----

----until about four or five years' time, even if they got the additional funding. That is the point I am making. Their housing construction company is so poorly fleshed out-----

I do not mind having a debate about housing. Let us debate it.

No, we absolutely did not. We did not.

Just to make the point about research from the RTB. If you compare like with like and apples with apples in respect of the other data reviews that have taken place, it is a far different story in terms of the impact on existing tenancies in particular.

The budget has eased the tax pressure in terms of apartments-----