Eoin O'Brien

So the first thing is it's no longer just for family use.

It's now for private rental stock.

Two, we do not know any of the details.

In fact, notwithstanding Micheál Nahann's good reporting, there are very conflicting reports in other newspapers as to what may or may not be in the regulations.

And crucially, not only do we have the possibility of the proliferation of large volumes of poor quality modular units,

But the government is proposing that these people will have no tenancy rights whatsoever, that they would be licensees.

And it's important to understand the law.

Seamus is right.

If somebody is renting a room in somebody else's property and sharing their bathroom and sharing their kitchen, it's a license, although those licensees should have some rights.

And currently they don't.

But under Irish tenancy law, if you have exclusive occupation of a dwelling where you have your own bathroom, your own kitchen, your own space, you are automatically a tenant.

And what government is proposing to do is not just introduce very potentially problematic exempted development regulations in this area,

but also change the Residential Tenancies Act, one assumes, based on the media reports, to strip those renters of these units of any rights whatsoever.

So what do I want?

First of all, I want the regulations to be published.

They have been delayed a year and a half.

There is huge confusion surrounding it.

Two, I want full scrutiny in the Oireachtas Housing Committee, and I do hope Seamus will support us on this, because it's not just a matter of the ministers and officials coming in to talk to us in committee.

I want to hear from the Irish Planning Institute.

I want to hear from the City and County Managers Association.