The Government is to extend rules restricting rent increases until after the next general election, The Irish Times has learned. The Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) rules, which have expanded to cover almost all private tenancies since they were introduced in 2016, were due to expire in December this year.
However, in a decision due to go to Cabinet as soon as Tuesday, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien will seek an extension of the scheme until December 2025, meaning they will definitely be in place for the next general election, which must be held before late March next year.
Since 2021, annual rent increases in RPZs are capped in line with the rate of general inflation, or 2 per cent a year, whichever is lower. Taoiseach Simon Harris told Newstalk on Monday that, every working day, 337 new homes are beginning construction, with a 60 per cent increase in commencement notices in the first three months of the year. It comes as new home starts surged to a record level as developers sought to begin work before Government waivers of development levies expired, the Cabinet will be told on Tuesday.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is expected to brief his ministerial colleagues on the level of commencement notices submitted last month, which is understood to have reached 18,000.
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This is more than half the level of total commencements last year, and came as the date by which notices had to be submitted in order to take advantage of the scheme approached. That date, initially set for April 24th this year, was extended by the Coalition until the end of this year, with Mr O’Brien stating last month that this would bring down the cost of building a house by up to €20,000 per unit. The initial cost associated with the waiver was €308 million for a full year.
Mr O’Brien will also ask the Government to add Co Sligo to the remediation scheme for homes damaged by defective concrete blocks.
The Dublin Fingal TD will update Cabinet on first-time buyer activity in the market, where 25,600 new mortgages were drawn down among this cohort in 2023. He will tell the Cabinet that 4,359 approvals have now been issued under the shared-equity First Home Scheme. About 17,500 homes, 5,433 of which were new builds, were bought by first-time buyers in the year up to the end of February.
Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman will seek Government approval for a new childcare funding model for children from disadvantaged backgrounds similar to the Deis model in schools. The new model, called Equal Start, will include supports targeted at childcare settings operating in areas of disadvantage as well as child-targeted and universal supports.
About 800 childcare settings will benefit where 35,000 children are enrolled. The scheme will commence in September, with €4.5 million allocated for this year.
Ministers will also discuss new legislation that will increase the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21. As reported earlier this week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will separately seek to bring forward legislation restricting the promotion of vaping and banning disposable e-cigarettes.
Minister for Education Norma Foley will bring forward a new national literacy strategy alongside Mr O’Gorman. The new strategy will cover numeracy and digital literacy as well and will encompass the period 2024-2033, applying to people from birth to becoming young adults.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke is to bring forward a package of measures for small business which may include double payments for firms in the hospitality and retail sectors under a pre-existing rates refund programme, as well as PRSI breaks worth €50 million. The Government is also considering slowing the introduction of minimum wage hikes and increases to the number of sick days an employee can take. Surpluses in the National Training Fund of up to €1.5 billion could be redeployed towards employers to take advantage of education and training for their employees.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin will update Ministers on the Global Ireland 2025 strategy to expand the State’s diplomatic, cultural and trade links with the wider world. He will tell Cabinet that 27 new diplomatic missions have now been opened or announced, while State agencies have expanded their networks and new strategies for areas such as the Middle East and North Africa are nearly complete.
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