I have heard some contributions in here in my time but the contribution from the Fianna Fáil TD, the lament for landlords we just heard, was quite incredible. Her whole contribution was about the difficulties of the landlords in this era, in 2026. This is at a time when teachers, therapists and building workers cannot find anywhere to rent, when the average rent, as we know, is now €2,500 in Dublin. The Deputy's contribution showed very bizarre level of detachment. She certainly was not thinking about the likes of a tenant in my area who is reported in the newspapers today as having been charged extra for the use of a fridge, charged extra for the use of a dining table to study on and then asked to do work on the adjacent Airbnb the landlord was renting out, where 12 building workers were residing. This is going on in Clonsilla, in Dublin 15. Fair play to that tenant for fighting that and for winning the case with the RTB but €7,000 in compensation is not very good, to be frank, for the level of suffering they faced. It is not much of a deterrent either, if you think about it that way, and that needs to be looked at. These are the conditions people are being forced into, and it is not just young people either, as we have all heard. A lot of older people are coming to our attention. In my area there is an eviction tsunami. A couple of months ago, in Dublin 15 alone, 115 families had registered with the local council that they had notices of termination. They are just the ones who told the council. We have been trying to assist people. I have the sheriff on speed dial on my phone. I never thought I would reach that level. It is a matter of trying just to get things put back until we can find there is no emergency accommodation in Dublin. I do not know if there is any discussion on that in the Dáil. People are just expected to go onto the streets. A lot of these people tend to have nobody else to support them, no near family members. We had one eviction in the Clonee area where the woman, who did nothing wrong in her entire life, was paying her rent, the landlord wanted to sell and the council would not acquire the property because the budget was used up. She ended up with the sheriff coming and being pulled out of the house in her dressing gown, onto the street. She actually spoke the same language as the bailiffs doing the evicting so she could hear everything they were saying and was appealing to them. She was treated brutally and manhandled. Those are the goings-on now all over the suburbs of Dublin and I am sure in many other counties as well. It is not even being brought to light in the media, so we have to bring it out to light in the Dáil. That is the level of what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have created. I will back this up with facts and show that it is not just anecdotes. According to a survey from myhome.ie, just 7% saw any difference in housing policy from this Government. They had no hope whatsoever. The eviction rate had gone up in quarter 3 of last year by 35% in preparation for these new laws, and rents are now one third higher than they were at pre-Covid levels and two thirds higher than the Celtic tiger peak. The Government is benefiting landlords at every single turn. Then we have a social crisis where we cannot get essential workers whom we need to bring down the CDNT waiting lists, to work in the schools, etc. We had one case in Dublin 15 where four teachers were evicted from the one campus. There were two schools together on the campus. Four teachers got evicted at the one time. That is what is facing people. I absolutely despair for young people now. I was talking to an American who has lived here for a year and they cannot believe the housing crisis in this country. They are just gobsmacked by the lack of action and the lack of care or thought about it. They have not seen anything like it in the US, which is the belly of the beast of capitalism, as we know. They just could not believe that it is continuing the way it is. Our nieces, our nephews and our children are ending up in Australia. This Bill will only make it worse. It has all been said here tonight. If you allow a landlord to introduce new rules for new tenants, they will create new tenants. That is just a reality. It is an iron law of economics that that will happen. The Government is giving that power because it wants more vulture funds and more investment funds and that is its prime consideration.

Sentiment score: -0.11

It is a bad reflection if they need to do that in Ireland.

Sentiment score: -0.54