Cllr. John Dwyer, represented the Party at the Oireachtas Committee hearing in Leinster House along with Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD. He called for the abolition of ground rents saying that "there needs to be a definitive guide given as to whether this very contentious issue needs to be dealt with in the Constitution or through legislation."

Councillor Dwyer said:

"Sinn Féin's view is that this issue can be dealt with through legislation. However, for too long this issue has been bounced back and forth without any action being taken. This Constitution Committee needs to say categorically that the abolition of ground rents falls within its remit or instead is a matter for legislators in the Dáil.

"We need to end the farce that exists at the moment whereby when the issue is raised in the Dáil the Government parties are only too quick to blame lack of movement on the Constitution and when we raise it at the Constitution Committee we are told that it might not fall within its particular remit. "Ground Rents are an issue that need to be dealt with now. It is not acceptable that this legacy of colonialism still exists in many areas of this state over 80 years after its foundation.

"There are over 250,000 ground leases in the 26 Counties. A staggering proportion of buildings in New Ross are subject to ground rents. This is not an acceptable situation. Ground rent landlords are nothing more than parasites and they should not be entitled to compensation when these grossly unjust rents are eventually abolished."