On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our deepest sympathies to Grace Lynch's family. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, boyfriend and extended community today. This Government was elected on promises that it was addressing the housing disaster. Many people struggling to buy and rent a home believed it. They took the Taoiseach at his word, they trusted him and many of them voted for him. Those people have been looking on as promise after promise that was made to them have turned to dust. The legislation the Cabinet signed off on today is the latest betrayal of these people. Between tenancies, landlords will be allowed to hike up rents to match the market rate. Just to be clear, the market rate is effectively a rate that is set by landlords. Every expert before the housing committee said this would result in higher rents. Ireland already has some of the highest rents in Europe. Incredibly, today's decision will drive them even higher. Why is the focus of this Government constantly on the protection of landlords' profits? When we consider the context, we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents have already doubled over the last ten years and there are 16,000 homeless people, of whom nearly 5,000 are children. It says a lot that this Government's legislation today is not directly focused on urgently helping them. I have to wonder if the Government is even aware of how high rents are at the moment and what new tenants could be forced to pay under market rent. Today, a two-bedroom apartment in Dublin is going for €3,400 per month. In Cork, it is €2,250, in Galway, it is €3,000, and in Limerick, it is €2,800. All of these prices are from daft.ie today and they are only going in one direction - up. Does the Taoiseach believe these rents are acceptable and affordable? Does he think they should go up? The Government can dress this up whatever way it wants and can try its level best to spin this Bill as protection for renters, but no one is going to buy it. This Government has not just failed to deliver on housing; it has repeatedly misled people about that failure. The reality is, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have spent a decade turning a housing crisis into more and more of a disaster. Now, instead of admitting this and changing its approach, it is doubling down, making renters pay the price of Government failure again by using them as sacrificial lambs and bleeding them dry in the hope of boosting supply. It is not too late to change course. The Government could increase protections for renters instead of stripping them away. It could introduce a three-year rent freeze and use that time to boost supply of affordable homes using a State construction company and modular home factories. How can the Taoiseach stand over a plan that will drive record-high rents even higher?

Sentiment score: 0.03

The Taoiseach saying that this is the most significant improvement for renters shows how low the bar is for renters in terms of improvements. Listening to him, it is easy to understand why people feel such despair about housing. The Government is out of ideas. We need a radical reset on housing and this Government just will not deliver that because that would mean admitting failure, and the Taoiseach does not seem capable of that. Rents are at record levels and this legislation will drive them even higher. The Taoiseach can criticise the Social Democrats all he likes with his usual, baseless attacks, but the housing disaster is getting worse on his watch. It does not have to be like this. He could take radical action and prioritise renters and those who want to own their own home. He chooses not to. The Taoiseach did not answer the question, so I will ask it again. How can he stand over a plan that will drive rents even higher?

Sentiment score: -0.03