Green Party TD Patrick Costello was today speaking following the latest report from Daft.ie showing 13.7% increase in rental prices in the last year.

He began, “Today’s figures are depressing if unsurprising. The Department of Housing will cite that Daft prices are not reflective of the market en masse but the trajectory is clearly up. When taken with the latest homelessness figures reaching a record high it is quite a harrowing situation we are in.”

“Housing for All is the Minister’s plan to solve this issue. This is largely dependent in an increase in supply in the private and public sector. In the meantime, we need to be protecting renters with security of tenure. The whole state must, as a matter of urgency, be designated as a rent pressure zone. Similarly, the eviction ban is due to terminate in six weeks. That is something which clearly needs to be extended. In Scotland for example the eviction ban is in place until the end of September, we need to replicate this here.”

Concluding he remarked, “Eviction bans, and rental credits didn’t exist under the last government. As a party in the current government, we must convince our partners to stand up, support renters and to adapt a longer-term compassion approach to this issue.”