She refuted the claims, originally made during an Alliance Assembly debate around the need for more protection for renters, stating that not only are Mr Gaston’s statements false but also inflammatory.
Ms Mulholland has said: "2021 census data shows that 86% of all housing in Northern Ireland is occupied by NI-born residents, a figure that rises to 88% in North Antrim. In the rental sector, NI-born residents occupy 72% of private rented housing and 88% of social rented housing.
“If immigration was a significant driver of rent increases, we would expect to see a high proportion of private renters being migrants, alongside a correlation between migration hotspots and rising rents – which is simply not the case in Northern Ireland.
"What actually drives housing pressures in NI is a lack of social housing, rising construction costs, water infrastructure issues, the ‘Air BnB effect’ of short term lets using available housing, and wages failing to keep pace with inflation.
“Net migration represents around 0.3% of our population of roughly 1.9 million. It is in no way reasonable - and is in fact downright incendiary - to describe that as ‘uncontrolled’, or to say that tiny number have caused the demand-supply imbalance in our housing systems.
“Indeed, so many of those same people have an immensely positive impact in our local economy, filling vital roles in hospitals, businesses and schools – a fact which Mr Gaston is much less keen to talk about."