Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The application of these restrictions across the board nationally would have had extraordinary effects in some parts of the country where the provision of rental accommodation is not viable as a result of significant falls in property prices and rental values in recent years. One of those effects would essentially have been to put a ceiling on those very low values. This would have prevented investment in many towns across the country. I think that would have been massively counter-productive. Instead, we wanted to target areas where we knew there was a significant problem and where the level of demand was driving rents up to crazy and unaffordable levels. That is why we chose the rent pressure zone model. I understand that a similar approach is being taken in Scotland, which has a similar profile to Ireland in this respect. I remind the House that if there are incidents happening, there are pretty strong protections, enforced and monitored by the RTB, for tenants outside the rent pressure zone regulations or restrictions. A landlord cannot simply evict somebody.

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