Letters to the Editor: Landlords should not have to subsidise a richer tenant

That turned out to be a bare-faced lie.

Today, eight years later, the RPZ is still is in place and will be extended for another year, with the annual maximum rental increase 2%, even though property ownership costs have risen by almost 10% per annum.

My tenants are well-paid employees of tech companies and each household earns over €100,000 per annum.

Me, I’m struggling, with loans, insurance, LPT, and maintenance costs.

Why is there a populist and discriminatory policy whereby, I a misguided property investor, with a net income of around €15,000, is subsidising around €20,000 each year, towards the lifestyles of my tenants with incomes of over €100,000?

Why isn’t the RPZ means-tested so that this ridiculous system of wealth transfer from the poor to the rich cannot occur? 

This is the true situation caused by the RPZ system of rent controls. 80% of tenants are being subsidised by poorer landlords.

I won’t go into the facts that so many property owners are fleeing the rental market and no new affordable housing is being produced unless the Government subsidises developers. Why invest in an asset where your costs increase at up to five times the rate of increase in the income?

Does the Government cap landlord cost increases for, say, insurance, LPT, interest rates, and bank fees or maintenance costs, etc?

Don’t start me on the RTB!

The current system is so punitive and unfair to supposedly self-funded retirees who just wanted to take the pension burden off the government and look after themselves.

It’s true, governments let no good deed go unpunished.

The solution is simple and equitable.

A household of tenants should apply to the RTB for a certificate which entitles them to RTZ (or the equivalent) rent increase protection if and only if the combined income of the household is less than, say, €40,000. 

That would make the proportion of the rent paid by my tenants no greater than 20% of the tenants’ combined household income. 

The acknowledged maximum proportion of rental cost that is sustainable by a renter is 30% of their income.

Currently it’s around 8% of my tenants’ household income.

I’d rather vote for a monkey banging a drum than any of the parties or candidates currently on offer all with populist housing policies which will certainly make the existing housing shortage even worse.

Donal Figrahot, Lismore, Waterford

We are failing dyslexic pupils

Regarding the article ‘Extra time for dyslexic students in Leaving Certificate exams an unfair advantage’, it is infuriating to hear that some people influencing decisions that affect children’s future education are not themselves educated.

To imply that children who do not have literacy issues would be at a disadvantage if dyslexic children were to be given extra time shows lack of understanding at best. 

It’s not that dyslexia means they can’t read, it just means that for some they might need to read an article three or four times before they are confident enough to proceed.

They are the children who are currently at a disadvantage, who are being made to feel like study is a waste of time and they are the ones who are being disrespected by the State.

How many more children will have their fired-up ambitions and potential quenched by adults in control? 

Adults without any understanding of how urgently fairness is required.

The State is failing these children, and society is being robbed of the contribution of the intelligence, creativity, and spark of hundreds of children as a result.

Rachel Bowler, Killarney, Co Kerry

Racing funding before ambulances

In Ireland, the funding model of providing emergency medical response services is an insult to the memory and spirit of Reverend John Flynn, founder of the Australian Flying Doctor Service.

Once again, we read that a fund-raising campaign for the procurement of a new critical emergency medical response vehicle has been set up by a voluntary organisation.

This Waterford-based group aims to raise over €150,000, with the objective of acquiring and operating an emergency vehicle equipped with advanced medical facilities, which would have the capacity to bring the A&E to the scene of an accident.

The rapid response vehicle will be able to respond to incidents such as cardiac arrest, road traffic collisions, and workplace and farming accidents.

While waiting for the arrival of this vehicle, the accident victim, with his or her life ebbing on death’s shoreline, must find it a source of comfort knowing the Irish horse racing and greyhound racing industry were financially inoculated in the last budget.

Budget 2024 allocated €95m for the horse and greyhound racing industries.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) received €76m while €19m went to Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI).

Money extracted from the citizen’s purse is being dished out to support two minority recreational interests that have a seam of animal cruelty, illegal drug use running through them.

On our behalf, the Irish Government has made a choice of tapping the financial keg for two industries reeking of animal abuse, while the provision of emergency medical services to rural communities has to rely on the outstretched donation hand.

It is the financial equivalent of shooting down the Flying Doctor aeroplane.

In a country where our Government continues to fund industries that are circling the drain, can it be a surprise that those entrusted to spend taxpayers’ money lack the financial nous to decide the allocation based on real need than sectorial interest.

Every accident victim’s memorial card, that distils a person’s life to dates and words, will now have an extra line: in Ireland, equine and canine gambling is more important than the provision of emergency medical intervention services.

John Tierney, campaigns director Association of Hunt Saboteurs

Local elections

In relation to the May 30 article (Local elections: Everything you need to know about the Cobh constituency), I would like to stress I was never a candidate for the National Party and I do not share their political views.

I would like to bring readers’ attention to some of the issues that are really important to me as an Independent candidate. 

While out canvassing, I have learned about a number of unoccupied council properties — some of them vacant for a year or more. 

This should not be happening in the middle of the biggest housing crisis our country is facing.

The second biggest issue I found out about while canvassing is the speeding, lack of calming measures, and general state of our roads. 

I believe the council budget should be allocated accordingly to prioritise those issues. 

Another pressing matter is to increase Garda presence in the constituency — Garda numbers are getting lower every year, while crime rates rise. 

I would like to thank Irish Examiner for the opportunity to set the record straight.

Peter Kidney, Cobh, Cork

Jewish voices

Sue Pentel, a Jewish citizen living in Ireland since 1976, is to be applauded for her forthright condemnation of Israeli government actions in Gaza and the occupied territories (Palestine protests should not be conflated with antisemitism).

We have a situation where arrest warrants have been requested by International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, for Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who will bear criminal responsibility for a host of “war crimes”. 

These include starving civilians, willfully “causing great suffering, or serious injury”, willful killing and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population.

US president Joe Biden denounced the chief prosecutor announcement as “outrageous”. 

Yet we now know that Israel have long feared such an action before October 7 and have tried to undermine the ICC’s rightful and legitimate investigations into unlawful acts against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by trying to illegally influence Mr Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda.

As someone who has been to the “Holy Land” many years ago I’m ashamed to admit that I believed Israeli was a law-abiding nation with respect for international law and human rights. 

I, and indeed many others, are only now beginning to realise the true nature of Zionism and the domination of ordinary Palestinians using the charge of antisemitism as cover for Israeli government actions.

We need more Jewish voices like Sue Pentel.

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry