The only surprise that will be expressed following this debate is the surprise of the residents in the inner-city flat complexes listening to a Minister who clearly does not understand the scale of the problems. Someone living in an overcrowded flat that was built to 1930s or 1940s standards, which is riddled with damp, stinks of sewage and has a range of problems from rats to crumbling façades, needs to have that apartment fixed. This is not a question of density; it is a question of providing the funding so the S…

"But". That is the problem. It is the "but".

But the Department is not approving the funding applications.

No, the national planning framework makes it about density.

We told you. There is a national planning objective, legally binding, in the national planning framework.

No. Your national planning framework made it about density. What utter nonsense.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to repeal the Planning and Development (Exempted Development) (No. 4) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 605 of 2022) and Planning and Development (Exempted Development) (No. 4) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 376 of 2023) related to the provision of temporary accommodation for persons seeking international protection or in receipt of temporary protection. Exempted development regulations are an important part of our planning system but they should always be the …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government for ten years, first through a confidence and supply arrangement in 2016 and then in two formal coalition Governments. During that decade, 55,000 adults have been forced into homelessness. Let that sink in for a second. According to data from the Department of housing, from January 2016 to June 2025, 55,000 adults have been forced into emergency accommodation, funded by the Minister of State's Department. That is more than the entire population of Longford. It is mo…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend Planning and Development Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 600 of 2001) to provide for exemptions from planning permission for certain categories of public art murals where such work has artistic or cultural merit, has the permission of the owner of the building or structure on which it is displayed, is not a commercial advertisement and does not conflict with the Equal Status Acts. Public art murals are good for our cities and towns. They transfo…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to allow the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to introduce a social housing passport in order to allow households on social housing waiting lists, or in receipt of social housing support, to transfer their social housing file, or their social housing support, to another local authority based on criteria set out in regulations laid down by the Minister. The Government is not delivering a sufficient volume of good quality social home…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I will speak in support of this group of amendments, amendments Nos. 2, 7 and 8. I will explain the detailed reasons for that in a moment. I will start, however, with two small pieces of housekeeping. First, I acknowledge the very helpful role of the departmental officials. They have obviously been working on this Bill in a relatively short period of time and at any stage when either we or our committee sought additional information they have been very obliging in making sure we were facilitated in trying to unders…

Sometimes, what the Minister does not say is more revealing than what he does say. I stated earlier that on the basis of data from the Residential Tenancies Board, within 12 months of the enactment of this Bill, anywhere in the region of 60,000 households will be impacted by the market reset. The Minister has not challenged that. In any of the radio or TV debates I have taken part in, nobody has challenged it. This means that the Minister is accepting the RTB's data that over the next 12 months at least 60,000 hous…

I know it might be difficult to hear the real-world financial consequences of what he will be voting for, but in Cork, the extra rent that will be imposed on new tenancies from 1 March in a year will be €3,100 across the city and county. In the city specifically, it will be almost €4,000. I will ask the Minister a very simple question. How is increasing rents in every county in the State going to contribute to increasing the kind of supply needed in every county? Is the Minister of State seriously suggesting that i…

The Minister of State knows that the only investors who are interested in these kinds of rents are those - the Minister of State was not here earlier so I will repeat it for his benefit - who might invest in the docklands area of Cork and in very high-end, high-cost parts of Dublin. The Minister and the Minister of State are going to ask their constituents to pay somewhere in the region of an extra €3,000 per year for new tenancies. The Minister had an opportunity to dispute the RTB data and he chose not to. If he …

-----but what the Government is proposing and what it is going to------

The Minister of State was smirking.

I am quite happy to engage. If this was a proper Committee Stage debate, we would be able to have these types of engagements. That is one of the things we have been denied. Let us be very clear. Double-digit rental inflation leaves renters unable to pay their rent. They get into rent arrears, they get a notice of termination for non-payment of rent and they get evicted. That is what happens. What is the Government proposing for new renters in County Carlow? Potential rent increases in the first year of 29%. For Cou…