I commend Deputy Carthy on the amendments he has tabled and his steadfast challenging of this scheme, which is deeply unfair. The amendment he has tabled today would remove that unfairness. The scheme should not be extended without the amendment being accepted. For more than two years, we in Sinn Féin have been raising concerns about the accommodation recognition payment. It was brought in, as Deputy Carthy outlined, as an emergency measure following the brutal invasion of Ukraine. It was about supporting people to host Ukrainians in their own homes, which Sinn Féin supported. That happened throughout the State, including in my constituency of Donegal. However, it morphed into something completely different and we have been telling the Government that for two years. We have been saying it is having a serious impact on the private rental sector. We have been telling the Government the scheme is unfair in the way it has been framed. It is unfair for five different reasons, First, it is only available to Ukrainians. Second, it is the only situation wherein the State pays a tenant's full rent. Third, no means test is applied to the individuals for whom the State pays rent. Fourth, landlords in the scheme receive a tax-free payment. Fifth, landlords have no obligations whatsoever in relation to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, or tenants' rights. These incentives are why the scheme has exploded in the two years during which we have been raising these issues. Despite the concerns we have raised time and again, the Government has persisted in extending the scheme and it is doing the same again today. Since I stood up here two years ago and warned that the extension of the scheme should not go ahead without our amendments, I have seen the impact of it in my county of Donegal. It is a county that is under huge pressure in terms of accommodation. It is a county with so many houses with defective blocks, it is really hard to find a place to rent. The number of properties hosting Ukrainians has gone from 608 to 2,159 - one in ten such properties in the State are in Donegal. How can the Minister stand up there with a straight face and say that this is not impacting the private rental sector in that county? I do not need him to tell me that because we have been saying it for two years. The Government has hidden the evidence from the RTB report on the effects of the ARP. It was buried and was denied under freedom of information, but now we have it in black and white stating that this scheme is having a negative impact on the private rental sector. It is an incentive to divert properties from the rental sector to the ARP. It is deeply unfair. The amendments that Deputy Carthy has tabled will remove the unfairness from it. The Government should not be extending this scheme, which embeds that unfairness. I challenge the Opposition parties to call out this unfairness. Of course, we need to support Ukrainians but it should not be in this way, which seriously impacts the private rental sector. We would not stand for it in any other situation and we should not stand for it here. The amendments are sensible and should be supported by the House.

Sentiment score: -0.05