John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. The reason they were introduced at that time was to try to regulate market rents. The fear is that if one were to allow market rents to be restored overnight, tenants who would be facing very large increases in rent. I have a complete understanding of the landlords involved in this regard. I have spoken to some of them who are trapped. There are good landlords who try to keep tenants in situat very low rents and who have maintained that position over the past number of years.

Deputy O’Donoghue is correct to state that we have many good landlords and many good tenants. The reality is that very few end up in dispute, particularly when we take into account the totality of rental properties in the market.

On dispute resolution, Senator Seery Kearney cited the example of a landlord who had difficulty with a tenant and who had gone through the entire process. I have also heard of examples where judgments have been made in favour of landlords by the RTB but that it took many months to resolve the issues involved. These have been very bad tenancies where there has been antisocial behaviour. Can our witnesses elaborate on that issue?

My final question is for Dr. Byrne, who stated that rental subsidies risk inflating rents further. That heavily contrasts with the position of Threshold, which calls for an increase in base HAP rates in addition to the 35% discretionary uplift. Will Dr. Byrne indicate if the Government increase the base rates?