Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This amendment is about ensuring a landlord has the right to have the rent paid. The issue the Deputy is raising is whether a tenant can afford to pay the rent for a variety of reasons, whether it is because they have not yet been approved on the housing list or whether a community welfare officer has not paid them rent supplement for one reason or another. That is a valid point but I do not think it negates the point that a landlord is entitled to have rent paid while there is an ongoing dispute. Other mechanisms may be necessary to ensure a tenant can afford to pay, but we should not persist in a situation where there is no mechanism for a landlord to have rent paid while a dispute is going on.