Vol. 989 Tuesday, No. 1 12 November 2019 DÍOSPÓIREACHTAÍ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DÁIL ÉIREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIÚIL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders’ Questions 2 12/11/2019H02050An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business 12 12/11/2019P00100Proposal on Reappointment of An Coimisinéir Teanga: Referral to Joint Committee 22 12/11/2019P00400Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion 23 12/11/2019P00700Proposal to Approve the Terms of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement Between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and the Republic of Armenia: Referral to Select Committee 23 12/11/2019P01000Ceisteanna - Questions 24 12/11/2019P01050Cabinet Committee Meetings 24 12/11/2019R00100Cabinet Committee Meetings 29 12/11/2019S01900Programme for Government Implementation 33 12/11/2019T01400Ábhair Shaincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Matters 37 12/11/2019T01600Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) 38 12/11/2019T01700Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions 38 12/11/2019T01750Migrant Integration 38 12/11/2019U00600Good Friday Agreement 40 12/11/2019V00600Brexit Issues 42 12/11/2019W00750International Agreements 45 12/11/2019X00625Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions 47 12/11/2019X00650Armenian Genocide 47 12/11/2019Y00300Female Genital Mutilation 49 12/11/2019Z00200Overseas Development Aid 50 12/11/2019Z01500Presidential Elections 53 12/11/2019AA00600Safety of Irish Citizens Abroad 55 12/11/2019BB00550Visa Agreements �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������57 12/11/2019CC00400International Agreements 58 12/11/2019DD00300Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate 60 12/11/2019DD00400Schools Building Projects ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������60 12/11/2019EE00300Power Plant Closures ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������64 12/11/2019GG00600Rail Network Expansion 69 12/11/2019JJ00100Finance (Tax Appeals and Prospectus Regulation) Bill 2019: Order for Report Stage 72 12/11/2019JJ00400Finance (Tax Appeals and Prospectus Regulation) Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages 73 12/11/2019JJ00700Social Welfare (No 2) Bill 2019: Order for Second Stage 73 12/11/2019JJ01100Social Welfare (No 2) Bill 2019: Second Stage ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������73 Inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell: Motion [Private Members] 93 12/11/2019CCC00400Teachtaireacht ón Seanad - Message from Seanad 118 DÁIL ÉIREANN Dé Máirt, 12 Samhain 2019 Tuesday, 12 November 2019 Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 2 pm Paidir. Prayer. 12/11/2019A00100Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders’ Questions 12/11/2019A00200Deputy Micheál Martin: I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that the latest daft.ie rental report makes for very serious and depressing reading, revealing very high rents across the coun- try The average rent now stands at €1,400 per month It has been going up continuously for nine years Alarmingly, economist, Ronan Lyons is warning that the market could face another ten years of high rents and rent misery if the Government continues to settle for a system that depends on the likes of cuckoo funds to prop up the rental market Meanwhile, Threshold is warning that the continuing high rents are forcing more and more people into homelessness and many more are under the threat of homelessness Alarmingly across the country there are only approximately 3,500 homes available for rent In Dublin 8, rents have gone up 125% over nine years. We all have to agree that rents have been at an unaffordable level for many years. In Cork the average rent is €1,372; in Galway, €1,300; and in Limerick, €1,219 All of this should act as a catalyst for fundamental change in housing policy In particular, younger people have been failed badly by current policies. A young person today is finding it impossible to pay these rents. Young couples, in particular, are finding it impossible to save deposits while pay- ing exorbitant rents in tandem with credit constraints Clearly, the rent controls in place are not working, contrary to what the Minister said in the Dáil last month The various solutions with which the Government has come up have not been effective or had an impact. Local authority income eligibility thresholds to qualify for a local authority house are very low Accordingly, thousands of people on relatively modest incomes are trapped in this high rent misery It is time for the Government to consider imposing a rent freeze, given the exorbi- tant levels of rent people are facing Will the Taoiseach accept that it will be another ten years of misery, according to the comments of the economist Ronan Lyons this morning? Will he accept that current policies are simply not working and that, in particular, a whole generation of young people have been failed and can never look forward to the prospect of owning their own home, which is their wish? 12/11/2019B00200The Taoiseach: I acknowledge that rents relative to incomes are high, which is a real prob- 2 12 November 2019 lem. They have become unaffordable for many, particularly those living in cities. In the Gov- ernment’s view, the solution is twofold, namely, rent controls and an increase in housing supply Rent controls which are in place mean that for an existing tenancy, the rent cannot be increased in any given year by more than 4% As the Deputy knows, the statistics produced today by daft. ie do not capture this but only new tenancies Rent controls, with a maximum rent increase of 4% a year, are working for hundreds of thousands of people who are staying in the same place they have been renting in the medium to long term If it had not been for these rent controls, these hundreds of thousands of people would have faced high rent increases by now That is not captured in the statistics, as Assistant Professor Lyons said, because these are new tenancies and the statistics do not apply to existing tenancies The second aspect of the solution has to be more supply If there was more supply of social housing, it would ensure people could move out of private rented accommodation, the housing assistance payment and rent supplement into social housing We will provide an extra 10,000 social houses this year, more than in any other year this century. We will ramp up that figure to 11,000 units the following year and 12,000 the year after that It is the biggest social housing programme in many decades There will also be an increase in the supply of private housing, with more places for people to buy to ensure they will not have to rent anymore This will free up properties for others to rent and ensure more places to rent I am pleased that another set of statistics was out yesterday which showed a significant in- crease in the supply of housing In the year to September, there was a 28% increase in the num- ber of commencement notices There had been concerns that the number was slowing down We know from the numbers that were out yesterday that that is not the case There has been a 28% increase year on year in the number of commencement notices 12/11/2019B00300Deputy Robert Troy: They are just commencement notices 12/11/2019B00400The Taoiseach: Behind that, we see a 31% increase in the number of planning permissions There have been commencement notices for 26,000 new homes in the past year, while planning permission has been granted for 31,000 right behind them We see a strong pipeline of new housing This covers social housing for people on housing lists and private housing for people to buy and rent Fundamentally that is the solution and we can now see that it is working Deputy Micheál Martin quoted Assistant Professor Lyons, but I am not sure he was quoting from the actual report which I have here In it, he states, in big writing, showing that he believes this is the