Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue regarding the operation of the investment fund landlord LRC RE-1.

It is based in Luxembourg and has assets estimated at €6 billion. It began buying property in Ireland in 2016 and now owns an estimated 1,700 homes across the State. Having bought these properties, LRC RE-1 unsuccessfully attempted to flip them in 2021. LRC RE-1, trading as Jersia Limited, is evicting multiple residents from their homes at Applewood in Swords. In each case, the residents are families with children who have nowhere else to go. In most cases, these families are being evicted due to the landlord's refusal to offer further Part 4 tenancies, in other words, the landlord is seeking to hike the rent. The landlord has failed to maintain many of the properties and tenants are paying exorbitant rents to live in slum conditions. There is evidence that LRC RE-1 is evading rent pressure zone controls by charging for other services. In at least one case, it has failed to comply with a finding of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. LRC RE-1 is precisely the sort of parasitic corporate landlords this and successive Governments have sought to attract into the State, only for them to profiteer, let their properties fall into disrepair and then evict tenants who are paying their rent. Will the Government take action to protect these tenants and force the landlord to repair and maintain the properties in an acceptable condition?

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