The Irish Property Owners Association has said all tenants who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of losing their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak should be afforded access to the existing HAP scheme.
Chairman Stephen Faughnan said the Government needs to put the resources in place to deal with the situation.
He said the IPOA's members are happy to work with tenants who need to move to the HAP system.
The Labour Party has also called for an emergency rent freeze and ban on evictions during the pandemic.
Labour TD Duncan Smith said he will be asking for the protections to be passed at an emergency sitting of the Dáil tomorrow.
He said the Covid-19 crisis could see many tenants struggling to pay the rent in the coming weeks and warned that allowing them to be evicted with nowhere to go would be disastrous – both for them and for wider public health.
It comes as the Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe meets with the banks today to see how they can assist people financially impacted by Covid-19.
It is expected a suspension of mortgage and business loan repayments will be part of the agreement.
