Is léiriú uafásach na figiúirí a foilsíodh inniu maidir le polasaí tithíochta an Rialtais. Sa chéad trí mhí don bhliain seo, tugadh 7,062 fógra díshealbhaithe do thionóntaí, an figiúr is airde a taifeadadh riamh. Tá sé seo suas níos mó ná 50% ar an tréimhse céanna an bhliain roimhe seo. Ní trí thimpiste atá sé seo ag tarlú. Tá na rátaí díshealbhaithe ag ardú as cuimse ó d’fhógair an Rialtas a chuid athruithe tubaisteacha ar rialachán cíosa an samhradh seo caite. D’oscail sé na geataí tuile agus dúirt muid caidé go díreach a tharlódh. An nglacann an Rialtas anois go bhfuil a chuid athruithe cíosa anois tar éis an ghéarchéim seo a dhéanamh i bhfad níos measa? Figures published today are a devastating indictment of the Government's housing policies. Eviction notices are up by over 50%. Mmore than 7,000 eviction notices have been issued to renters, the highest number ever recorded. These are real people, real lives and real families. They are workers, renters, young couples and older renters. Their lives have been thrown into turmoil as a result of the Government's policies. I am told of one couple in Galway who are in their 60s. They have worked all of their lives and have just been served with an eviction notice. The man told us that he has a pain in the pit of his stomach because they have literally nowhere to go. It is unconscionable what is happening to families like that at this stage of their lives. This did not happen by accident. The rate of evictions has skyrocketed since the Government announced its rent hike Bill last summer. The Government opened the floodgates. It was warned about what would happen. It was warned that weakening rent protections would drive up rents and that landlords would use these changes to force tenants out. It was also warned that renters would pay the price. Now, the evidence is in. The figures to which I refer confirm that rents are continuing to rise. Rents went up again last year. At the very height of an emergency in housing, the Government decided to let landlords charge full market rents from 1 March in respect of new tenancies. The result was predictable, and now we are going to see rent hikes of between 20% and 25%. Thousands of extra euros must be found by renters every year. That means more pressure on workers, families and people who are already at breaking point in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. What makes people so angry is the fact that the Government knew exactly what it was doing. It made a deliberate political choice to side with institutional investors, vulture funds and landlords over ordinary Irish renters in the context of what was a charter for rent hikes and evictions. The reality that people are facing now is brutal. Rents are off the scale because of the decisions that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made. Even when people can afford to rent, there is literally nothing available. Young workers are locked out of ever owning their own home. Couples have been forced back into their parents' box rooms. Families are lying awake at night, terrified about getting an eviction notice. Workers in their 40s and 50s are wondering if they will ever have security and stability in their lives. While all of this is happening, the Government continues to miss its inadequate social and affordable housing targets. Supply remains nowhere near the level of demand. What exactly are people supposed to do? For many, there is nowhere to go. Everybody knows what comes next, namely more homelessness, more families in emergency accommodation, more young people forced to emigrate and leave our shores and another generation locked out of the possibility of secure and affordable homes. Today's figures expose the reality of the Government's housing policies, which is more evictions, more rent, more insecurity and more homelessness. It is not an accident. Will the Tánaiste admit that the Government's rent changes have made this crisis dramatically worse? Will the Government reverse its disastrous rent hike legislation that continues to drive renters out of their homes?

Sentiment score: -0.19

The Tánaiste can spin this whatever way he wants but it is black and white. The truth is that he is deepening the crisis because of the political choices the Government has made. The Tánaiste can shake his head all he wants. Does he know what is happening out there? His Government, his party, the Fianna Fáil Party and the Independent Members who support them have opened the floodgates. We warned them about what was going to happen. The Government is allowing landlords to drive up rent. We said they would use the legislation to evict tenants and that is what is happening now. The Government is presiding over the highest rate of evictions since the Famine. In one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, families are being driven from their homes in their thousands. That is what the Tánaiste is overseeing. We have told the Government time and again that its policies are failing people. That is why so many are giving up. They do not believe they have a future in this country and they are losing hope because of the Government's failures. The Tánaiste talks about affordable housing that costs between €2,500 and €3000 to rent every single month. It is simply unaffordable. Does he accept that the Government's legislation has allowed a situation whereby we now have more evictions than was the case during the Famine and that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are presiding over that?

Sentiment score: 0.03

What about evictions?

Sentiment score: 0.00