John Cummins: Supply, Not Rent Freezes, Will Fix Housing

Thank you, Ceann Comhairle, and look, I welcome the opportunity to respond to this motion before us this evening, which the government does not support, and our position is set out in the counter-motion. I'm thankful, however, for the opportunity to highlight how Sinn Féin's policy suggestions would exasperate the challenges that we face when it comes to housing delivery in this country. It is simply not credible to suggest that the government is in any way lacking in its commitment to housing. Proof of that is in the figures. Over €9 billion will be spent by the state this year across all delivery streams. Over 36,000 homes were delivered last year, up 20% on the previous year. Over 9,000 new-build social homes were delivered in 2025, the highest output on record. There has been over 86,000 housing commencements over the last two years. In the first three months of this year alone, there have been 8,400 commencements. That's up 184% year-on-year. Planning momentum is also strong. 8,000 permissions granted in the last three months of 2025, up 20%. Ceann Comhairle, Sinn Féin are calling in this motion for a no-fault eviction ban. That is exactly what the government has done. As of 1 March of this year, no-fault evictions are banned for tenancies created after this date in the case of large landlords. In this motion, Sinn Féin are also calling for a rent freeze, which sounds great for a soundbite on social media. However, we don't have to look too far away from ourselves here in Ireland to see what the negative impact of such a measure was. In Berlin, they introduced such a rent freeze, and within 12 months, rental supply dropped by 50% before being ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. It is important when we are debating these topics that we don't mislead and present measures that have been proven to be a failure in other jurisdictions as some sort of panacea in the Irish context. The very last thing that we need in this country is to see a 50% reduction in rental supply. What the government has sought to do with the rental reform changes that were introduced earlier this year is to strike a balance between improving security of tenure for tenants, while also encouraging private investment in the rental market. The fundamental cause of rising rents is insufficient supply. One sure thing is that Sinn Féin's policies would see supply of homes drop significantly. Their half-baked suggestions would only worsen the situation, not to mention the attempts to hoodwink the public when they say that they would boost housing figures, despite the fact that some of their TDs, including their party leader, objects to thousands of homes across Dublin. It is important to remember how the rent reform changes came about. The Housing Commission, of which Sinn Féin supported its recommendations, said that the government needed to reform the rental market. The Commission said reform was needed to balance the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords through a programme of legislative and regulatory reforms to make the private rental sector more attractive to both parties and to regulate market rents fairly and effectively by reforming the current system of rent regulation. The government has done this. The Residential Tenancies Act of 2026 came into effect on 1 March 2026 and introduced a new national rent control for all tenancies. Before that, we brought the whole country under a nationwide rent pressure zone, with rent increases capped at 2 per cent to protect tenants in areas that were not covered by an RPZ from significant rent increases prior to the upcoming changes. For people in tenancies prior to 1 March, their tenancies were unaffected by the new changes and, importantly, a very significant safeguard was placed on such tenancies that stated a landlord could not reset market rent if a notice to quit was issued. This specific provision was inserted to stop economic evictions. New tenancies created from 1 March 2026 are subject to tenancies of minimum duration. These will be rolling six-year tenancies, offering tenants greater stability. During the six-year period, landlords will only be able to end a tenancy in specific circumstances, such as a tenant not meeting their obligations. Smaller landlords, those of three tenancies or less, will be allowed to terminate a tenancy if a landlord or a close family member needs to live on the property or if there is financial hardship that requires the sale of the property. In the case of larger landlords, those of four tenancies or more, they will only be able to end a tenancy in very limited circumstances, such as a tenant not paying their rent. We need to see supply with security. The Government decision delivers that balance by also introducing critical measures to attract investment in new apartment construction. These measures are essential to increasing supply and ultimately leading to more available accommodation and more affordable rents. Sinn Féin turned a blind eye to the Housing Agency review of the rent control system, which said that the inability to reset rents was a particularly harsh aspect of the system and a fundamental barrier to investment to drive more supply. The Government is fully committed to tackling high rents and ensuring that there is an increase in the supply of high-quality rental accommodation. We are doing this through significant capital investment and through measures such as cost rental homes, of which we have delivered over 6,200 so far. It is quite clear that this motion is prompted by the recently published RTB ERSI Rent Index for Q4 of 2025 and the RTB Director's Report for Q1 of 2026. It is important to note that in the context of this debate, we can't just focus on one set of facts. We have to look at the whole picture rather than just cherry-picking statistics. While all the focus is on certain statistics within the report, we have to focus on the overall report. It is important to say that while 7,062 notices of termination is undoubtedly high, it is worth also noting that there were 16,548 new tenancy registrations confirmed in Q1. Nationally registered private tenancies rose by 2.44% annually to 246,477 in Q1. Of these, 5,226 were cost-rental tenancies which increased by 87% year-on-year. The number of private landlords also rose by 1.3% annually to 105,847, indicating increased participation in the rental market. The RTB data therefore shows continued resilience in the Irish rental sector with ongoing growth in tenancies and landlords within the market. Our housing plan is building on the strongest period of delivery in a generation. Over the last five years, almost 149,000 new homes have been delivered. Our plan is ambitious. It commits to delivery of 300,000 new homes over its lifetime, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports to help people to buy or rent at a cost that they can sustain. Increasing supply is the single most important lever we have to moderate prices, improve affordability, reduce homelessness and increase home ownership for families and ordinary workers. The plan rests on two core pillars. The first, activating supply, is about removing the structural barriers to housing output. It is about unlocking land, reforming and accelerating planning, investing in water, energy and transport infrastructure and addressing viability challenges so that homes can be built where they are needed. At the same time, we are expanding construction capacity through apprenticeships and MNC and bringing vacant and derelict homes back into use through grants and the derelict property tax. The second pillar, supporting people, recognises that supply alone is not enough. We must ensure that those most impacted by the housing crisis are supported directly and effectively. Over the lifetime of the plan, we will deliver an average of 12,000 new social homes each year. That is an unprecedented commitment. A stable and predictable rental framework is essential. Without it, supply will contract further and renters will suffer the consequences. Progress is being made. Completions are rising. Social and affordable output is at record levels. Planning reforms are accelerating delivery. Infrastructure investment is being aligned with housing growth. But we are honest about the scale of the task at hand. There is no single measure, no simple ban, no freeze that will solve the challenges that we face. The government's approach is clear. We need to increase supply at scale, protect and prioritise home ownership, deliver record levels of social and affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections and mobilise both public and private investment to build the homes our growing population requires. Delivering homes, building communities is a funded, actionable plan and it recognises that solving the housing crisis demands persistence, partnership and pragmatism. We will continue to act as a government to ensure that we drive delivery because that is the only sustainable answer to the challenges that we face. That is the supply of more homes and that is what our plan will achieve.