Government accused of 'gaslighting' renters

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called on the Government to introduce a tax credit worth a month's rent, a ban on rent increases, and to extend the eviction ban.

Mary Lou McDonald  said that "what people are being offered for their hard-earned money is beyond a joke". Picture: Brian Lawless

The Government has been accused in the Dáil of "gaslighting" renters.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald made the charge to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in light of a recent Daft.ie report which shows the average rent in Ireland hit €1,733 per month in the final quarter, up 13.7% on the same period a year ago.

Ms McDonald said that "what people are being offered for their hard-earned money is beyond a joke".

She pointed to examples of rental ads which offer "€625 per month for a bunk bed in a room with three other people; €1,880 per month for a room the size of a parking space where you pull your bed down; and €1,100 per month for a bedroom, use of the kitchen and a utility room, but the rest of the house, which is in Co Kildare, is off limits".

The Sinn Féin leader said the housing situation is "beyond crisis mode" and she called for the Government to bring in a tax credit worth a month's rent, a ban on rent increases, and to extend the eviction ban.

Housing for All 'is working'

In response, Leo Varadkar said the Government's Housing For All plan is "working" and that scaling up supply of homes is key to bringing down rent prices.

"We are also making a reality of cost-rental," he said. 

"This is something talked about for a very long time and it is now a real option for people to be able to rent securely and pay a rent that is much lower than the market rent. 

"We need to scale that up and scale it up big time over the years ahead. We are doing exactly that using the Land Development Agency in particular, and we have the rent pressure zones. 

"Most tenants in Ireland are covered by rent pressure zones now."