Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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610. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department has completed research and his views on the effect of the activities of an organisation (details supplied) on the availability of houses and apartments for rent, particularly in the greater Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25446/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In publishing Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Government has set out a practical and readily implementable set of actions to create a functioning and sustainable housing system. The Plan is available at the website www.rebuildingireland.ie.The Plan is divided into five pillars, with each targeting a specific area of the housing system for attention.

Pillar 4 of the Plan, which deals with the Rental Sector, commits to developing a comprehensive strategy for the sector in Q4 2016. The strategy will be structured around 4 key areas: security, standards, supply and services. In terms of supply, the strategy will focus on maintaining existing levels of rental stock and encouraging investment in additional supply. All issues that affect the availability of dwellings in the rental market will be considered during the development of the strategy.

In addition, the Plan commits to the introduction of a new affordable rental scheme to enhance the capacity of the private rented sector to provide quality and affordable accommodation for households currently paying a disproportionate amount of disposable income on rent. The objective of this scheme will be to provide long-term affordable accommodation for low to moderate income key-worker households in urban areas of high demand and provide an economic incentive to increase supply of rental accommodation. The actions under Pillar 4 also include a commitment to examine standards, costs and feasibility of Build-to-Rent on a large scale, and commission research on ways in which further investment might be encouraged.

The overarching objective of the strategy will be to increase supply and support the development of a stable, strong and viable rental sector offering true choice for households, investment opportunities for providers and reflecting the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.