Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to be associated with your remarks, a Cheann Comhairle, and to welcome the ambassador to the Chamber. It is really good to have the British Ambassador present. I look forward to building relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom in the period ahead, in particular as the Windsor Framework is implemented.

On this matter, what Deputy McDonald is trying to do here is to create a false narrative, a false choice, and as often the case, a divisive one. It is not about renters versus landlords or balancing the rights of one against the rights of others. Renters need landlords and landlords need renters. One of the many problems we have in Ireland with our housing system is that we do not have enough landlords. Given our growing population, we probably need tens of thousands more properties available for people to rent. What happens when landlords leave the market? Rents go up, fewer properties are available and renters lose out, especially those who need to move, those who are young and are renting for the first time, people who are coming to Ireland to work who need somewhere to rent and also people coming back to Ireland from abroad - returning emigrants, of which there are tens of thousands every year. What we have seen in recent years is more than 40,000 small landlords leave the market and very few have entered. There will always be landlords leaving the market and there will always be a certain number entering, but we need now to stem the flow of small landlords in particular leaving the market and to increase the flow of new landlords coming in. We will not be able to turn this around unless we do that. That is why we see long queues of people any time a property is available for rent, who are hoping to view it and that it can be the place they can call home. That is why a property advertised on a website is taken down almost an hour or two later. That is also why we see rents for new tenancies being so high, relative to existing tenancies. It is because there are not enough landlords.

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