There are three issues for small landlords in Ireland from what I can see:
1) the tax on rent is unfairly treated as income. The rate of 52% on rental income less expenses needs to be halved and brought down to maybe the lower rate of tax (20%) plus USC and PRSI. This should be done on a basis of reducing rents pro-rata so that renters also benefit in saving money. Say someone rents for €2,000 per month and the landlord has 'expenses' of €400 per month. The remaining €1,600 a month, the taxman takes €800 and the landlord takes €800. If we reduce the rent to €1,700 (15% reduction in rent) and the landlord has 'expenses' of €400 per month. The remaining €1,300 a month is taxed at say 30%, the taxman takes €390 and the landlord takes €910. The government tax tax is taking the big hit here, whereas the landlords net income to going up nearly 14% and the renters rent is going down 15%.
2) the problem of small long-term landlord stuck with properties on rents way below current market rent. By and large, these small landlords didn't increase rents annually (to the benefit of the renters) cause they were by and large happy with the tenants. These are the landlords that are being driven out of the market and are the very type of landlords we should be looking to retain and attract into the sector. They are landlords who are fair and sympathic to tenants and renters and are more concerns with having decent tenants in their property who look after it and respect it than getting tenants in to maximise their profits/rental income. A system of bringing these properties up closer to market rent than they are is required and would benefit everyone. Tenants wouldn't /may not be evicted and properties sold, if this carrot was there for the small landlord.
3) Problem tenants and refusal to pay. Quite simply, if you have a tenants in a property who refuses to pay, you should be able to get them out of your property easier and quicker than it currently takes. Also, any damage done should be taken or reimbursed to the landlord for repairs etc fro social welfare payments or a court order against the tenant. Respect works both ways and we need to weed out the bad tenants and the bad landlords in equal measures. Also, there need to be a record on the RTB for landlords to use, to look you tenants to see their rental history and possible issues in previous agreements. A bit like your credit history, you will find it easier to rent a property if you have rented before and there was no issues etc.
The three issues, won't fix everything, nothing will do that. But they would help renters and landlords in equal measures as also provide a stable base and buy time for the longer term issues such as increasing supply to be resolved. Putting the above in place for a definite 5 year period would at least provide confidence to a marketplace that is reeling from uncertainty and the constant annual government interference and meddling around the edges.