Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:

I will respond on the HAP caps which Deputies Cian O'Callaghan and Ó Broin asked about. There are two elements to them. Practically the whole country is a rent pressure zone. Landlords can only put up the rent by 4% except in very specific circumstances. If the rent pressure zone legislation is working correctly, then increasing the HAP caps should not inflate prices in the market. Maybe we need greater liaison between local authorities and the RTB where a rent review comes in to the local authority for a HAP property or a HAP property that had previously been on the books comes in under another tenancy and it is seen that the rent has increased beyond the 4%. The local authority lets the landlord know that is not permissible, and if the landlord does not reduce it, the local authority may report it to the RTB. The RTB now has powers to inspect and sanction landlords for such breaches. We have that mechanism that would counteract any chance of increasing the caps and inflating the rents in the private market.

Alternatively, we could scrap the caps and let the market level itself out. A cost-benefit analysis would be worthwhile on what impact removing the caps would have. Threshold does not have the resources to undertake such an analysis but that is an alternative. That would mean there would not be a floor at which landlords could pitch their rents. There are mechanisms there, including the rent pressure zone legislation and all the structures around that, that should counteract the chance of HAP cap increases increasing rents locally.