Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An aspect of the Minister's reply that concerns me is that it does not address a particular part of what is happening in the rental sector not only here but globally, which is certain types of institutional investors with certain types of business models have a very clear role in driving up the price both of land and of rent or purchase properties but also they can add to increasing levels of insecurity. I am not against institutional investors if they have a long-term reasonable yield return to provide security of tenure and reasonable rent for landlords, as exists in other European member states, but the business logic particularly of vulture funds that are looking for short-term high-yielding rents is having a particularly problematic impact on large cities. It is happening in New York, London and elsewhere in Europe and we are beginning to see it here. We are having a disorderly exit of accidental buy-to-let landlords from the rental market, which we have seen during the past two years according to the Residential Tenancies Board, and an under-regulated entry of short-term investment funds into the private sector, which is having a destabilising effect. Is that something the Minister and his Department are looking at and, if not, will he give a commitment to start doing so?

See this speech in context