Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Ó Broin has probably addressed most of the information I was looking for. Working in the tourism sector myself, I know the value of the traditional bed and breakfast in earlier times. What we are looking at here is the impact on housing and specifically on the homelessness crisis. Like Deputy Ó Broin, I am not after the person sharing a room or sharing his or her house when he or she is away on holidays for a weekend or for a week or two. That is not who we are after here. We are trying to get to the bottom of the issue of entire properties being rented out on a long-term basis.

We also need to define the difference between booked rooms and available rooms. Coming from the tourism sector, I would be delighted if I could have 100% occupancy tomorrow morning.

When Mr. Robinson refers to 161 nights, that property could have been available for the entire year but only achieved a 50% occupancy rate. This is a key point we need to stress.

We have been informed that Airbnb provides data to Revenue on its income. How does it provide those data and what information do they contain? I have never tried to register with Airbnb, but does it have a registration fee and is it paid a percentage of the booking fee? Is that the information that is given to Revenue?

We have been told that Airbnb is working with the Department to develop a memorandum of understanding. What is the likely outcome of that?