Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I have heard the Minister and the Taoiseach say over and over again that they are going to protect all existing renters. Some 80% of current renters are in tenancies of six years or less. Long-term renters are in the minority. That is becoming increasingly evident through the constant levels of eviction notices. The idea that somehow existing renters are protected is simply not true.

While there is no doubt the security of tenure changes will benefit a small numbers of renters, the Government is creating an even more complex set of arrangements that are more difficult to understand and more readily available for rogue landlords to exploit or semi-professional, accidental landlords to misunderstand and make mistakes. That will lead to more disputes at the Residential Tenancies Board, which cannot even handle the current level of cases it has. As a consequence, more problems will arise. To make matters worse, what landlord in possession of a vacant property between now and next March is going to re-let it? This will suck out those properties, which will constrain supply even further and make matters worse in the short term.

With regard to the legislation, we have always argued that rent regulation should apply to all renters of all types in all counties. Extending the RPZs should have been done at the start. The Minister came into the Chamber and said that he is introducing this to protect renters when it was never even his intention to do so. It was always clear-----

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