This Bill must be called out for what it is. It is a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rip-off rent hike Bill and it must be stopped. I will tell the Minister the reasons why. The Government should be cutting rents, not facilitating them to rise even further. Rents are already out of control and renters are drowning in a cost-of-living crisis. Yet, the Government's response is to tear up what little protection remains and hand a gift to big institutional investors. At the centre of this Bill is the so-called market reset allowing landlords to hike rents to full market levels between tenancies, not 2% and not inflation, but whatever the market can squeeze out of people. Students will be the worst hit. I have talked to so many students about this. From September, students entering the private rental sector will face immediate market resets on what they are paying already. For families in Mayo, this is absolutely devastating and nothing short of daylight robbery and extortion. Commuting is simply not an option for most students and for students in rural Ireland. Parents have no choice but to pay whatever rent is demanded, no matter how extortionate. How are parents expected to absorb this on top of the food, fuel, fees and childcare for younger children? How many students will be priced out of education altogether? I move on to the figures for tenancies in County Mayo, which speak for themselves. New tenancies average €1,181, compared with €949 for existing ones. That is €232 extra every single month, or nearly €2,800 over a year - a 24% increase. That the Government is happy to stand over that is unbelievable. The Bill bids farewell to the modest protections of the rent pressure zones with tenancies lasting an average of just three and a half years. Within a short few years, most renters will be caught out by this reset. Renters and families need a break. Sinn Féin is calling for the rents to be cut, and for an emergency three-year ban on rent increases. The Bill does exactly the opposite and that is why we will oppose it.

Sentiment score: -0.08