I have had the pleasure over the last number of months of visiting a lot of flats in the north inner city. This is in the context of both the by-election and the campaign against the rent increases, which is a Dublin-wide campaign even though we are at different phases. It is interesting to hear the TDs from the constituency talk because what strikes you is the very deep sense of community due to people living so close together. It is a very strong sense of community and solidarity. These are really great people. That is on the one hand, but what also strikes you is the pretty horrific conditions in which people have to live in 2026. There is mould everywhere. There are stories of people repainting their flats over and over. There are rats. Obviously there is overcrowding, which is chronic across the city. It is utterly unacceptable. What we have heard about the Oliver Bond Street complex is outrageous. People have had their time wasted, have been led up the garden path and then have been left waiting again in horrific conditions because of what is effectively a tick-box approach to resolving the housing crisis, as opposed to dealing with the situations people are facing. It is outrageous that people who are living in such poor conditions have been asked, forced or compelled to pay even more in rent. It is outrageous that the argument for them to pay more in rent to Dublin City Council – an average increase of 30% - is wrapped up in the language of the council wanting to be a good landlord. It wants to be a good landlord so it has left people living in crap for years and years or even decades, and now it wants them to pay more for the privilege of it. It is outrageous. The main responsibility for that goes to central government for not properly funding our councils, but there is a lesson here for Labour and the Greens in particular because it was a horrendous mistake to vote to increase these people's rents.

Sentiment score: -0.12

The mistake can be righted at the next budget. There is a big campaign to ask people to reverse it. Ultimately, the vote was lost by one vote. There was an amendment to say we should not be increasing people's rents and should instead be hitting the big companies by introducing what is effectively a differential rates scheme. It can be reversed for next year. We need commitments from Labour and the Greens to do that, as opposed to charging people more. I wish to speak for a moment about South Dublin County Council. In my constituency we do not have that many social housing flats. Obviously, we have lots of social houses and the same sorts of issues apply. The biggest issue is people waiting for years and years for windows and doors that are necessary. There are gale-force winds passing through their houses. The idea of having insulation or whatever in that context is obviously a complete joke. Just as in Dublin city, Fingal and Galway, the management in South Dublin County Council, with the presumed agreement of the ruling group, is planning to go for big rent increases. The council has produced a PowerPoint presentation to outline its case. Effectively, it is trying to suggest that just as in Dublin city, the council takes in less in rent than it spends in maintenance. It is not true. When you go through the figures, you see that it is not true whatsoever. The council is adding in all sorts of extra expenses - I will go into some of it for a second - to try to create that impression. Dublin City Council has said that it is not getting enough in rents so it has to increase them, and then it will improve maintenance. South Dublin County Council is raising a fair bit more in rents than it is actually spending in maintenance. It has no excuse for not providing it. I will give one example; the council includes in its expenditure the money that comes from central government for retrofitting, which is about €7 million a year. The council is including that in its own expenditure to try to pretend it is making less. The truth is that it is taking a lot more in rent than in maintenance. It does not need to increase the rents; there is no argument for it whatsoever.

Sentiment score: 0.06