Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am discussing the matter with everybody on the committee. I want to make this point because I do not want to hear again about Airbnb causing the housing crisis; talk about clutching at straws. The reasons there is a housing crisis are the three reasons I have outlined .

Nothing has been done about rent, nothing is being built and the vacant units are being allowed to sit there. Airbnb is completely and utterly irrelevant in the whole equation. There is no Airbnb in Fingal or Blanchardstown because it is hardly a tourism destination but it is the area with the biggest housing emergency in the State. Most of the homeless people come from such areas. Throwing up straw men is not helpful.

My final question relates to Traveller accommodation. Perhaps the witnesses do not have the information but if they have I would welcome it. We know from the figures that Traveller-specific accommodation has not been built by local authorities and I wonder what has been found in that regard in the census.