Government’s rent control agenda a lonely position, claims Howlin

Government proposals to curb rents have been sharply criticised in the Dáil by Labour leader Brendan Howlin.

He told Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Tuesday the Government was “arguing an increasingly lonely, isolated, unsustainable position” on rent control.

He asked Mr Kenny whether he accepted the views of those at the frontline of the housing crisis: Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust and the NEC.

"Are they all wrong and only yourself and Fianna Fáil are right on this issue?" he asked.

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Mr Howlin asked how the Government could justify allowing an allowable rent increase which was “a multiple of any other index, eight times the consumer price index”.

Rental pressures

He said the Government thought the only pressure zones were Dublin and Cork.

"You know these rental pressures exist in Louth and Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford and probably Mayo, " he added.

Mr Kenny said if Mr Howlin had taken time to look at the designation process, the housing agency, in consultation with the relevant local authority, proposed an area be designated.

“It is a focused, targeted strategy to deal with the question of predictability and certainty for tenancies,” he added.

Earlier, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said statistics showed average rents were now €1,000 monthly around the country and more than €1,500 in Dublin.

He said the Government’s announcement lacked ambition and compounded the difficulties faced by citizens.