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

The Deputy has put an unfortunate spin on a highly progressive approach to the role and functioning of the much more predictable rental market we would like to create. For as long as I remember, the problem with the rental market is that rents rapidly increase in boom times and collapse at times of recession. This is no way to manage a rental market in which we want to create security of tenure and much more predictability and certainty for tenants and landlords. We recognise that many people do not want to live in one location or in a house with a significant amount of debt attached to it for the rest of their lives. Some people want temporary accommodation because of where they want to work and live. Some will choose to rent for a lifetime because they want to avoid significant debt. Those who want to do this should have the option. We are not trying to encourage this option.

Home ownership is a core part of the Irish mentality and approach to property.

5 o’clock

There is nothing wrong with that but we want people to have options and, in the past, the rental market was only an option for people who were looking for temporary accommodation, students or those who could not afford their own home. That has changed a great deal over the past ten years, particularly in Dublin. It is the norm in many other European capitals. We are trying in the new rental strategy to provide a much more balanced, predictable rental market that has higher quality and that has good regulation for both tenants and landlords. We are making that change but it will not happen overnight, mainly because many landlords only have one property and they are not used to the regulation that comes with being a landlord.

The role of the RTB, particularly in the rental strategy, is being significantly enhanced. Unlike many other countries, we essentially have a rent regulator. We are significantly strengthening the RTB by increasing its staff numbers and the resources that go with that. Since the number of RPZs increased before Christmas, there has been a 135% increase in the number of people contacting the board, often just for information to understand new rules, laws and so on. We have an evolving but improving rental market, which is moving in the right direction in respect of security of tenure, predictability and certainty in order that people have the option of staying in that market for a long period if that is what they want and if that suits their lifestyle.

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