Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what Mr. Hall said about the ESB and Uisce Éireann. I am inundated with contact from people who cannot get into houses and are waiting for months. It is a disgrace. That is the first thing I will say. Deputy Boyd Barrett was talking about the cost of rent in his area. In Kildare, the average rent is €1,450 per month. I represent the south Kildare constituency, which is very different from the north Kildare one because north Kildare is in the commercial belt so there is more employment and benefits to that. In south Kildare, we still have quite a high level of unemployment, in particular in certain towns such as Athy and other areas that are not very well off and where poverty is an issue. Renting and getting houses is an issue there. There are 7,000 people on the Kildare County Council waiting list. Houses are not being built to fix that, which is an enormous problem that we need to address.

In the light of all that, I want to ask about the recent bulk purchasing of family homes for rental at huge rates by vulture funds and institutional landlords. Why do these enormous institutional landlords pay no tax on their rental properties? Ordinary landlords can be subject to a rate of 52% of tax on their properties. How does this disparity of treatment incentivise ordinary landlords to remain in the market? What measures would our guests envisage to address that disparity?