Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the follow-up question. He talked about a trend; it is not a trend. Some 1% of transactions in 2017 is not a trend. A proportion of 4.6% of the stock is not a trend. The Deputy said 70% of landlords own one or two properties and that everyone knows that. Everyone does not know that because the Deputy is wrong. Some 86% of landlords own one or two properties, while 70% own only one. When the Deputy attacks landlords, as he often does in this House, he should think about the people he is attacking, namely, 86% of our landlords, who own only one or two properties, and the 70% who own only one. In most or many cases, they are accidental landlords who did not want or mean to become a landlord but who became one because of what happened in the financial crash or family circumstances. When the Deputy stands up here time and again attacking landlords, he is attacking people who find themselves in circumstances in which they do not want to be.

The Deputy spoke about the trend concerning institutional investors. We need more institutional investors because they increase the supply of apartments. We need tens of thousands of additional apartments, particularly in cities, if we are to meet the current housing challenge and also protect ourselves from other challenges, such as climate change, and also meet the need to promote proper spatial living and compact growth, as referred to in Project Ireland 2040.

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