The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has said the Government will have a comprehensive reaction to the rent crisis within a month.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Simon Coveney said he will announce a new initiative by mid-December, but would not say if that would include measures to control rising rents.

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said that while he acknowledges the Minister's sincerity, he is making the same mistakes made by Fianna Fáil ten years ago.

Mr Ó Broin said the two issues that need to be addressed are rent control and increased investment in social housing.

Also speaking on the same programme, Fianna Fáil TD Anne Rabbite said there should be more money for social housing and the Government should work in tandem with private developers.

Mr Coveney said while people should not expect the issue to be solved overnight, investment is increasing next year to €1.3bn from €800m.

He said he recognised there had been an over-reliance on the private sector to provide social housing and that policy had changed.





