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

While it is no consolation for the tenant, I should say that HAP and RAS landlords can exit lease agreements, for example, on the grounds of sale, even within those two or four years. For me, a more interesting idea relates to the long-term leasing run by the Department and local authorities. This allows people essentially not to be landlords while remaining the property owner. Such people lease the property to the local authority or AHB for a long term. A not-for-profit body like the North and East Housing Association is often brought in to manage the property and the tenancy. If there was a way to combine that package with the flexibility of HAP and RAS, for the reasons the witnesses have outlined, it might provide a more viable option for some families who would like to go down that route but where nobody in the family has the ability and wherewithal to be a landlord.

The witnesses also made the very important point that we need to think about the tenants on the other side of this. We do not want 1,000 fair deal properties coming into the market and then exiting a year later. That is not a long-term gain for the family, the owner or the tenant. A combination of the support of long-term leasing with the flexibility of the short-term lease might be an option. I say that with the caveat that tenants need security of tenure as well but we have to live in the real world. If that is not something that is being discussed, I would encourage people to do so. Because I again suspect the Department's amendments would not preclude any of that, it is something that could be agreed and signposted by the Department after the legislation is enacted.