Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Some Senators say that our proposals would discourage landlords and investment and affect supply. Rent certainty is good for landlords and tenants; the absence of regulation is bad for them. A culture in which friends of mine are afraid to rock the boat and contact their landlords about the landlords' property is a bad one and is bad for landlords and tenants. Even with a rent freeze, surely rental accommodation would remain a good investment. Who is investing in property in Dublin expecting rents to go even higher? That would not be a good investment.I urge the Government to wake up tomorrow with a renewed commitment to renters because we need a culture change. The Government and the Green Party are the people with the power to change the circumstances of thousands of people in this city and across the State who want security and certainty. Good ideas come from these Houses. Many of those ideas have been implemented during Covid. People have a desire for change that stretches way beyond this pandemic. The Government has a chance to implement that change and provide that certainty and security for a quarter of Dublin's population who are renters and the thousands of renters across the State.