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.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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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 is about 246,000. Wi…
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 says we need about €20 …
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.
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 difficult hearing a…
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 justice Bill of this…