Seamus McGrath

I fully accept that.

And I think there is more the government can do to support renters directly in terms of the rent tax credit, for example, in terms of trying to address the eligibility for social housing so that people can get support there.

I accept there is a linkage.

It's a temporary linkage.

And it is because, as I say, landlords held off in renting out properties when they became vacant.

What we undertook, David, was the most fundamental reform of the rental sector in decades.

That was necessary.

The government didn't just conjure this up.

It was based on information that came about from the Housing Commission, a report carried out by the housing agency.

We had a dysfunctional rental market.

We still have, and it's going to take time to fully repair that and fix that.

But ultimately, we have to address the underlying issues here.

and we can undertake short-term interventions which do not resolve the issue long-term.

We're only putting off further down the road today when we actually have a functioning rental market, when there is availability of properties and when they are affordable to tenants.

And the report also highlights the fact that there are only 2,500 properties available, which is the core of the issue here.

There is a chronic shortage of supply and that is why the government is focused on increasing supply.

So, for example, we have a record €9 billion being spent this year on trying to increase supply under the National Development Plan.

one in three euros spent on capital investment will be in relation to housing so that we can increase enabling infrastructure in terms of wastewater treatment, in terms of transportation and so on.

Well, Eoin used most of his time there to outline the problem, and we all know what the problems are, but we didn't hear too much in terms of the solutions from Sinn Féin.

We all know there are significant issues there, and I think it's very disingenuous of Eoin not to accept that there is a timing issue here.