James Browne

That means driving the supply of homes in this country. We have delivered more social homes in 2024 than in any year since the 1970s. We have delivered record affordable homes and last year we delivered over 36,000 new homes, the highest since 2011. We have to drive the supply and that needs investment. The Government is investing the largest amount of money in the history of the State into housin…

For those who are currently in a rental situation, their position does not change - for 240,000 renters it does not change.

On the one hand, you want it to stay the same, on the other hand you want change.

In a single sentence earlier, Deputy Hearne said that the landlords are licking their lips, and that they are also getting out. At least when Deputy Ó Broin makes a hypocritical statement he sandwiches it to try to hide it a little bit. You just actually said it in a single sentence. It makes no sense.

It is just word spaghetti in the hope that something lands or when you leave the Chamber you have got 20 seconds for your social media.

What we have to do is provide housing solutions. We have to drive the supply of homes if we are going to solve the housing crisis in this country.

That is what we are doing, while also providing, as I say, for the first time in the history of the State, security of tenure. That is the crucial part we are doing here. Deputies do not have to like everything in the legislation but they are going to vote against security of tenure. That is what they are going to do.

For the first time people will have the confidence of knowing, in the case of large landlords, effectively they can stay there forever. They know they will be able to do it.

There are certain exceptions for smaller landlords but they still know they will have at least six years. We know the greatest driver of homelessness is notices to quit. We are going to give security of tenure-----

-----so people can put down roots, so people can feel safe and know what their personal situation is. I think it is quite cynical actually, the Opposition here. The Deputies are united in cynicism against this legislation. We cannot do nothing. If we do what the Opposition wants to do, which is freeze rents and have an eviction ban, it does not even retain the status quo, it is actually going to g…

-----if we freeze the situation as the Opposition wants to do, that is the situation. We are delivering record affordable housing. In 2024 we delivered the largest amount of social housing since the 1970s and we will have the 2025 social housing numbers quite soon as well. That is what we are doing here. We want to solve the housing crisis. That is what we are working towards. I get what the Oppos…

-----to drive the supply of the homes that we need. We have heard nothing from the Opposition about how it would actually drive the supply of homes in this country. A number of comments were made. Deputy Stanley asked why are rents going up in Laois. Again, it is because of the lack of supply. The only way that people in Laois will get homes to live in is by the supply of homes being increased. T…

-----a consideration as to when we do it.

The one thing that is guaranteed is that the rents are not going to come down if the Deputy's party continues with its policies..

We know that. That is exactly the point. You have no policies.

All you have are slogans.

A Freudian slip from the Deputy there. We are driving on and addressing the housing crisis. We want to solve it in order that we can get people into the homes they need. That is why we are driving on with building social homes, affordable homes and private homes. It is also why we are bringing in stronger protections for tenants. In relation to the amendments, Standing Order 204 states the follo…

That is not what that says.

Market rents can go down-----

The Deputy should not be misleading. Markets can go up as well as down.

I thank the Deputies. We have been here for nearly three and a half hours debating the first amendment, but that is because there has hardly been a single discussion from the Opposition on the amendment. It has been referred to but most of the debate has not been on the amendment itself. Let us be honest: if the debate was simply on the amendment, we would have moved on a long time ago. I want to…

The Housing Commission recognised we could not continue with what we were doing. The Housing Agency investigated and recognised that we had some of the most restrictive rent controls in the world, which was killing supply of the homes that we need right across the country. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, said we had to move. We have to give people hope and we have to drive housin…

-----with 1,900 this year and a pipeline of 12,000. It is driving the supply and the building of homes. Does Deputy Hearne want to know why I accuse the Social Democrats in particular with regard to social media clips? He stood up and started using hyperbole about the Famine. Deputy Hayes, sitting beside him, stood up and started talking about the altar of greed. What did he do the minute he sat …

This is about addressing the housing crisis in this country. We are bringing forward and implementing solutions. We are giving tenants security and we are giving certainty to tenants, landlords and investors so that we can drive supply. This is about giving hope and delivering homes for people. I want people in their homes right across this country, and that is what we are doing.

We have had Housing Agency assessments.