Taoiseach accuses Mary Lou McDonald of ‘clichéd bingo announcements' as SF leader hits out at rental plan

Irish Independent

a day ago

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has accused Mary Lou McDonald of "clichéd bingo announcements" on the new rental rules. She had engaged in "bluff and bluster" on Morning Ireland this morning, the Fianna Fáil leader said, namechecking "vulture" and "cuckoo" funds, and saying the Government should "let builders build". It was an incredibly detailed policy, Mr Martin said, adding that Sinn Féin itself had been meeting developers and investors to discuss ways of encouraging private interests into the housing market. He said Eoin Ó Broin, the party's spokesman on housing, had done so "in his attempt to be super-cerebral on these issues." However, Mr Martin did not answer Ms McDonald's questions about what research had gone into the policy package before it was announced. She also called for clarification on the six-year rule governing the resetting of rents, and whether it applied to "all landlords" as had been stated in a press release from the Department of Housing - which has since been changed. Ms McDonald said he was asking on behalf of renters "confused by your own proposal and unclear as to what you're saying." She added, however: 'There is one thing that is clear. Your plan will push up rents even further. It's only a question of when renters will be hit. "You'll allow landlords themselves to set a market rate for rent after March 1, 2006, and throughout the course of next year, tens of thousands of renters will face higher rents. "Some will pay full market rent at the start of their tenancy, and all will face big hikes at the end. Tenants entering new-build properties will be hit with market level rent on day one, and with rent increases tied to inflation thereafter, they're set to see their rent rise sharply.' Fianna Fáil "rolls the dice on housing once again," she said, "with no guarantee that it will lead to any significant increase in supply. "The Housing Agency is very clear on that score. Even in the most optimistic of scenarios, your plan will see high-end apartments in exclusive pockets of Dublin charging eye-watering rent. "In the rest of Dublin, and in every other county, there will be no extra supply, but there will be much higher rents." Reflecting an Irish Independent story this morning, Ms McDonald said: "There's a very real danger that your plan will actually tighten supply - as landlords now delay putting properties back on the market in order to charge a higher rent from next March." The Taoiseach said: "Existing tenants will stay and be capped at 2pc [ increase per year]. That is clear. "Any new tenancies after March 2026 will be capped by the CPI [the Consumer Price Index, meaning inflation]. That is also very clear. "But you have sought to sow confusion, because, of course, you condemned this before you even saw the detail of it. "During the last couple of months, you declared that RPZs would be eliminated. You didn't expect this package of measures." He added: "I listened to you on Morning Ireland [on RTE Radio 1] and it was all bluff and bluster. "You're back to the vulture funds. go back a few weeks and just replay what Deputy Eoin Ó Broin said on Virgin TV - he acknowledged and recognised a role for institutional funds in the Irish market. "So who do I believe here? You just call it vulture funds because it plays well, but it's just clichéd bingo announcements. "That's all you're adding. I heard you this morning, and it's just bluff and bluster." In contrast, the changes announced by Government - with legislation to be brought in within the next fortnight - "will be a huge jump forward in providing long-term stability." He said Threshold, the renters' representative organisation, had welcomed the national extension of Rent Pressure Zones.