This is another example of legislation being rushed through so the Minister appears to be taking action instead of simply taking action. Just two weeks ago, I sat on the housing committee where we dealt with dozens of typos in the planning Bill. This is legislation that has been enacted but that was also rushed through. We in the Opposition warned about the problems with rushing through legislation with mistakes and the Government still has not learned. This Bill is not about renters. It is actually about the opposite of renters. This Bill should be called the "Investor Speculator Bill", because that is what it really is. It does not set out to protect tenants. The Minister made a point about the security of tenure. That is no good if people cannot afford the rent. I will set out some facts to explain to him what is going on. In Cork, renters are facing an increase of €278 per month. In County Cork, it is €308 per month. That is over €3,000 a year. People are hanging on by their fingertips, we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents have skyrocketed and the Minister is going to add on €3,000 a year. Who can afford that? We TDs can afford it, but the ordinary man and woman in the street trying to keep a roof over their head cannot. If the Government were serious about tackling the crisis in the rental sector, it would take real action. In Cork city, there are 2,197 people and families getting housing assistance payment, HAP, or rental accommodation scheme, RAS. Those families are entitled to social housing but, because the Government did not build and is not building enough social housing, they are in private rented accommodation. That is 10% of the rented accommodation in Cork. These people, if the Government would build social housing, could move into it, releasing those 2,200 properties to other people to rent. That would help drive rents but instead, the Government is driving them up. It is about delivering supply. Instead of focusing on tax breaks and increasing rents for speculators, developers, investors and vulture funds, the Government needs to work for ordinary renters. A ban on evictions, a three-year ban on rent increases and increasing the supply of social and affordable housing are solutions that will help renters. They will support families, help workers and help prevent more families and, in particular, children, going into emergency accommodation and becoming homeless. There is a famous line from the movie, "Wall Street": "Greed is good." Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Healy-Rae and the Lowry Independents stand for that. Greed is good for the speculators, the investors and the vulture funds, and we 100% oppose that.

Sentiment score: -0.05