Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to finish because this is an important engagement, and we would like to see more of it. The reason we are supportive of this in principle is that if one looks at what is happening with the rent index, it is clear that a very large number of landlords are either availing of exemptions, correctly or incorrectly, or breaking the rules, and it cannot be left to tenants, particularly vulnerable tenants, to police the rules. Therefore, all I ask of the representatives of the Irish Property Owners Association is to engage with us, when the Bill is published and they see the final detail of it, to tease out some of the other points it raises. We are open to such engagement. However, the rising level of rents is not sustainable for the people paying those rents. If we can have a conversation about how we might address the concerns of landlords who are in difficulty, who I believe are in the minority, and if we level the playing field between the REITs and investment trusts, I think there will be things we can work on. Likewise, the length of time it takes to deal with a vexatious tenant is not acceptable, and I do not think anyone here would argue otherwise. If the representatives of the Irish Property Owners Association want to have a serious conversation about this, many of us are more than open to it because the process does not work for good tenants or good landlords either.

Despite the fact that we support the Bill, some things the representatives have said have given us food for thought. However, just as they think we are all anti-landlord, if they were to engage in a slightly different way with us, I think they would be surprised that stabilisation of the rental sector in the interests of tenants and landlords is actually what most of us want. I think this could be achieved by a more constructive dialogue.