Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I deal with many people who deal with Threshold and they have always found the service excellent and very professional. Oftentimes, people are in difficult circumstances and it is good to have a service such as Threshold. I welcome Mr. Jordan's comments about rent certainty with regard to landlords. That is often forgotten about. A number of years ago, at the start of the downturn, it was very handy for many landlords to rely on RAS because it meant guaranteed rent. Now that things are, as landlords see it, on the up, they are pulling out of RAS. That is part of the problem and part of the reason we have such a difficulty.

I have one question in regard to Threshold's submission. It is under section 5, which deals with more security and protection from eviction. Recommendation 9, which the Chairman touched on, recommends the introduction of legal safeguards. Has that ever been put forward by Threshold to the Department as possible legislation in the past? If so, what was the response Threshold received?