Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. With regard to the homeless figures for last night, is there any evidence on the number of people coming out of the rural Ireland into the city? I make it my business to stop and talk to the homeless people around this building every day. Most of them are from rural Ireland. I am curious as to whether the groups have any information on that.

With regard to antisocial behaviour, I spent 27 years on a local authority. One of the problems in recent years has been those who are in private accommodation within local authority estates or the mix of the rental accommodation scheme, long-term leasing and local authorities being in the same estates. How will the legislation cut through this and deal with people equally? The options were outlined in respect of taking this through the various stages. At the end of the line, people who have refused to abide by any rule of law and intervention end up back in rented accommodation paid for by the State. What should we do in that situation? Should we accept it?

Mr. Mike Allen mentioned rent control and rent regulation in his submission. It has gone from south to north. People were pleading with local authorities to take buy-to-let property through long-term leasing when they had 20 properties. Now, they are trying to get out of the agreements because they are stuck on a certain figure. How will rent regulation happen? Will it happen at the level of local authorities or will there be an overarching system? Colleagues in Dublin talk about astronomical rent levels that, by virtue of demand, do not compare with what I experience in Tipperary. I do not see rent regulation happening at a national level. It must be broken down.