Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I apologise for being late and perhaps some of the points I will raise have already been addressed. Has the IPOA expressed opposition to the proposal that apartments should be sold with tenants in place, as would happen in most of Europe? If the situation here was different and if it was difficult to rent a residential unit, it would be of benefit to have a tenant in place if a person was buying a property from a landlord.

The delegates probably do not need me to tell them that a commercial unit is worth more with the tenant in place than if it is empty. An empty unit is problematic, while an occupied unit with a regular tenant paying his or her way is a bonus. The tenant adds value to the sale.

Obviously, I was a landlord and let a lot of properties. I can remember at time when I was getting crazy money to rent properties and when I was getting terrible money to do so. Now, although we are back to crazy money again, if I was back in the game of being a landlord, I would much rather have consistency and regulation. Being up and down and having boom and bust are actually not good for business and nobody benefits from it.

I am listening to the delegates highlight some of the challenges in being a landlord today. I understand where they are coming from in some of their points, but we have a dysfunctional market in Ireland. However, it need not be that way. Do they not think that if we were to regulate and change it in such a way that there would be rent certainty for the tenant, it would bring certainty for the landlord also? They are telling us that life is not good for the landlord. Life is not good for the tenant either. It has not been good for either of them because of the ups and downs in the past few years. Should we not change the status quoand do things differently? Do the delegates not think introducing regulation to control rents - rent certainty to a degree - would actually be better for their industry in the long term? It might not seem as attractive in the short term, but surely all business investors are interested in having stable, long-term certainty. That is why people buy bonds, sometimes at 0%. People will buy German bonds before they will buy anyone else's; there is bugger all return on them, but no one will lose any money. Do the delegates not think more regulation and evenness in how the industry operates would be in the interests of landlords too?