Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Threshold representative and Dr. Lyons. I live in County Louth but my office often obtains excellent legal advice from Threshold for people who have difficulties regarding tenancies. The organisation provides a professional service. Notwithstanding everything that has been said, particularly by Dr. Lyons, whom I greatly admire and would not dare contradict, members of my family who are single and working live in Dublin city centre. They lived in accommodation for a year or more but their landlord told them he was going to use Airbnb because he could increase the revenue from the accommodation by 60% from €1,500 per month and they either had to match that or get out. They had to get out. They know of many cases of young people being driven out of the city because they cannot afford the rents being sought and they say that Airbnb, notwithstanding its positive aspects, is impacting the rental market. Would it make sense to prevent Airbnb from listing properties in certain areas, particularly in the city centre or where people work and live or where the company is displacing working people? That would be hugely important. Airbnb could be told to keep its listings outside the M50 or whatever zone. There is less demand for properties in that zone. This is a significant issue for single people, in particular.

I welcome the comments about tackling the issue of vacant homes. Unless the Government tackles this, particularly in the areas of greatest need, it will not solve the housing crisis. If all the new houses in train are built, we will only stand still in the context of meeting demand. What mechanisms might assist in that? In the UK, for example, local authorities can double the property tax on a vacant property while the city of Bolton has empty homes officers. If a property is empty, they actively engage positively with the landlords to encourage them to let them and offer them deals or suitable tenants or tenants for whom they will guarantee the income. A total of 625 empty homes were commissioned in nine months last year for families to live in. The city has a population of approximately 200,000. This was a quick win in a short period. If that was introduced in Dublin, empty properties could be tackled in a constructive way with the carrot of a grant to upgrade, if necessary, before using the stick. What views do they have on putting significant pressure on people to rent properties they are not using, which is not their principal private residence or subject to litigation or probate and so on? That is the key to solving the problem.