YOU REALLY OUTDONE YOURSELF, TAOISEACH! - Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 10 Jun 2025

Welcome to Leaders' Questions. Face the heat, the pressure, and the toughest questions of the day. Thank you. And I want to extend Kate Mayla Fáilce to Aaron and Sophie Byrne, who are recently married. They're here with their family. So love's young dream here in the Dáil. And Moyla Historical Society from the Royal Fáilce Istioch. You repeatedly tell us that fixing housing is your number one priority. So people have waited for the big initiative, for some idea that you might bring forward to turn the tide of this emergency. God knows we've endured your government's directionless approach since you came to office. Misleading on housing delivery, beds and sheds, your madcap housing czar idea, really leaving people wondering, would you ever bring forward a substantive proposal? And now, finally, we have it. And you've certainly outdone yourself this time. Because your first major action in housing is to enable big landlords to hype up extortionate rents even further. At a time when government should be acting to cut rents and to ban rent increases. At a time when people across the state fork out, on average, new rent of €2,000 a month. Here in Dublin, of course, rent can hit €3,000 per month or even higher. But instead, you create a new opportunity for tens of thousands of landlords to jack up their rents. Now, you've made much of the intention to extend the 2% cap to existing tenancies throughout the state. Can I just say to you, Tisha, go ahead and do that. Let's do that this week. Because it's clear that that measure is in fact to hide your blushes as you provide landlords with the chance to hike up rents in the here and now. And as you provide yet another sweetheart deal to investment funds to build expensive rental property and charge extortionate rent. That's the real intention of these measures. You say or claim that landlords will only be allowed to reset rent to the market rate if a tenant leaves voluntarily. Well, Taoiseach, tens of thousands of renters leave tenancies voluntarily every single year. So under your proposals, as one renter walks out the door, they will be replaced by another whose rent will have ballooned. Students will be amongst the first hit by your actions. Finding affordable rental accommodation has been a constant struggle for students and their families. But you are now ensuring that this will be even harder. That students and their families will be ripped off even more every year. And worse still, Taoiseach, you explicitly allow all existing landlords to reset rent to full market rate every six years. That is essentially the death knell of rent pressure zones. So your plan isn't about protecting or giving stability to renters. It's about allowing corporate landlords, vultures, property funds to hike up rents. Large landlords that have already got sweetheart tax breaks on their rent roll and on their capital gains tax liability. So you feel on the side of the side of the big boys, who'd have thunk it. So a plan on, con cíis roi é rárdhú niis or a dhéríis. Ni bwéniñn se é se le cíis óri é cossant. Bwéniñ se é le brabús na dhérni tólhón corpórdoch a bhaidhú. Comay le brabús na grea cíisthi agus na cíisthi mwín. Taoiseach when you cut through the verbiage this is just a plan to hike up rents some in the here and now others at a future date rents need to be cut to come down not to go up and rent increases should be banned not facilitated by government so Taoiseach you need to think again because renters have had enough they can't pay anymore and government should not be forcing them into this position first of all could I just send our deepest sympathies to all affected by the horrific and shocking shooting and killing in Austria I think our thoughts are with all those who have been killed their families and their relatives could I say at the outset that the reforms announced today of the rental sector will strengthen the rights of new and existing tenants in Irish society and that is a central part of the reform and those reforms have been informed by the housing agency review which of course stemmed from the housing commission report which the deputy opposite endorsed at the time all the parties opposite endorsed the housing commission report which pointed to the need for reform of the rent pressure zones the deputy opposite and the shenzhen party very disappointed with the announcement today they condemned it in advance of seeing the detail now they've changed tack hurriedly last march I was told we were going to get rid of RPZs altogether every one of you said it and we are not and we are not what we're doing is extension extending it it's becoming a national framework now in terms of rent pressure zones and the evidence has pointed to those areas outside rent pressure zones being under pressure because of that very fact so we've we're correcting that in terms of making it a national uh protective framework existing tenants are capped at two percent you know that deputy you say the opposite here you just tell untruths with abandon with abandon existing tenants will be capped at two percent um and that's the reality um of it and for those four tenancies above there's an effective end to no-fault eviction I mean that's the bottom line and yet you come in all sound and fury but to a certain extent as an incredible incoherence in terms of shin fein policy and housing as deputy owner brinja housing spokesperson he will meet all the property interests I have a list again of who he's who lately fit 38 of april the property industry ireland I bet he meets them why for what purpose deputies for what purpose to introduce to introduce incentives for investors to catalyze apartment construction deputy mayor marylou mcdonc comes in today and says you're only interested in institutional investors your spokesperson has been meeting them on an ongoing basis such hypocrisy such hypocrisy will not cut it with the people the bottom line is this this is a balanced set of proposals the housing finance or the housing agency report was published at about four options the government has gone with the option in terms of adapting the existing rpz because they would expire by the end of the year if nothing was done and this is a I believe a strong measure in terms of protection but also then in terms of new we do need to incentivize future investment in new apartment buildings and in housing and I would put it to the deputy the state is the lead investor at the moment with seven billion plus the department of finances saying we need about 20 billion to get to 50 000 houses per annum for a sustained period of time now where do people think we're going to get to 20 billion from is anybody seriously suggesting is anybody seriously suggesting that the state will pony up to 20 billion which she in fact said we tripled social housing we'll triple this without telling us how we're going to get the money this is very fundamental we need public sector investment we also need private sector investment and we need to protect tenants and minister james brown has done that today with his package it's extremely disappointing to shintain because it's not what they thought it would be you never anticipated that we'd have the no-fault eviction for four tenancies you never anticipated that we would make it a national protection framework because last march you declared to all and sundry we were getting rid of it completely that's the language you use it's the language of exaggerate exaggerate tell untruth art untruth and you know what people might believe us people might believe us that's what you're about but what i'm about i'm about solutions i'm about solutions sinn fein is about exploiting the whole thing the problem and crisis to whatever degree thank you for its own political advantage is on our feet please deputy so what you're about uh Taoiseach is screwing renters you're about doing it very very brazenly um and saying you want to try and distract uh from that fact go ahead and uh extend the two percent cap across the state do it do it do that we will support you in doing that right i don't think anyone will object to that but that does not disguise the actual intent and the effect in the here and now and in the long term of what you are about to do because it is being gutted the rent uh pressure zone uh provisions so existing tenancies let me read to your own words all landlords will have the right to reset rent where the rent is below market value at the end of each six-year tenancy there you have it there you go that's it they're your words i've raised with you the issue of turnover tenancies you know where people voluntarily exit uh the the tenancy that happens tens of thousands of times every year and i have told you amongst the first really hit hard with this will be students and i would like you to respond yes they will yes they will this is the import of your proposal and the disappointing thing Taoiseach is everybody knows that rents are extortionate at this point the job of responsible government is to ensure a caution rents please to ban rent increases and instead vina fall and finnegale want to facilitate the jacking up now please this government wants to increase the supply of houses to get to 50 000 per annum with the proposals of shin fein the proposal of shin fein leader rent plan the answer whatever the deputy has said would actually reduce supply you have no ideas you have no solutions that's your problem and the people saw that last time out you don't have it because you don't you don't accept there's any role for the market at all and that is a fundamental problem in terms of your presentation um on on on this issue and exactly i stress again existing tenants will be capped two percent new tenants in news in new supply new tenants in new supply will be capped at the cpi level so the caps are retained the framework look i didn't interrupt again but this is standard practice the shin fein is interested in just throwing on truth after untruth across the house and are not prepared to listen uh to the truth you're not the leader yet you're not the leader their timing t-shirt thank you look the deputy's opposite they're into performance they're not into substance thank you t-shirt deputy ivana bachik deputy ivana bachik please deputy darty deputy ivana bachik your time started like share and subscribe and let us know your thoughts in the comments we'd love to hear from you