Rental Sector
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Conor Sheehan (LAB), Limerick City

I raise this issue particularly in light of a very good report that Threshold did last October looking at the licensee system and the category of people in the licensee system who were, when it came to renters' rights, effectively invisible. The rent-a-room scheme does not come under the RTB Act, so there is no security of tenure there and no real renter's rights. That might be fine when you are talking about a room in someone's house but if you are talking about a modular unit, it is a separate physical entity. What we do not want to do is create a situation where we inadvertently create another shadow rental market. I know when this was first mooted the intention was not to allow landlords to rent these out. Then that was changed. I am looking for a quick review of the licensee system in order to make sure that if landlords are allowed to rent these out, tenants at least have some basic sense of protection.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-19