Mr. Patrick Robinson:

I doubt that.

To respond to Deputy Ellis's questions, it would overstate the case to say we see lots of problems. We recognise that the growth of this kind of accommodation presents some questions and challenges and creates some issues, some of which existed long before Airbnb existed while others were intensified or created by the arrival of new forms of accommodation.

I do not know what is the position on student accommodation. It would not surprise me if some landlords who accommodate students during term time are using some vacant periods to host tourists. We see that relatively frequently with long-term landlords who may have a void period between tenants and frequently seek to use this period for two or three nights at a time before another long-term tenancy commences.

As to what types of people use our platform, we see from the data that people all over the city are using spare space in their home or their entire home when they are not there to make some additional money. A typical host makes €5,000 per annum and hosts for an average of 51 nights. The reasons they host are not only financial. When we speak to our hosts, as we do frequently, they usually tell us they started hosting because it presented an economic opportunity but they came to like the experience of meeting new people, showing off their neighbourhoods, of which they are very proud, recommending local businesses and shops and helping people to understand what it is like to live in this city. There is a very committed and genuine community of people doing this, notwithstanding scepticism about our business model and values. When one spends time with our host community one finds its members are incredibly engaged, very passionate about what they do and not backwards about coming forward when they believe we are letting them down. They genuinely believe they are providing a great service to this city and they are very proud of it.

Working with management companies is a big issue that we face around the world. Looking at the number of policy challenges and challenges to existing legal frameworks, the landlord-tenant relationship is an obvious issue and one which we are thinking hard about. We have a team of people who have started some pilot programmes in the United States and we expect them to start working in Europe before long, although the two markets are very different in nature. The programmes are on how we can work directly with management companies to give them transparency about what is going on in their buildings, potentially give them a cut of some of the revenue that is being made in their buildings and provide them with information and tools they can use in order that they can more confidently allow activity in their buildings at a volume that is allowed by law.

A question was asked about where burden of regulation should lie. The central questions for the Government are what does it want to allow and not allow and what does it want to allow given certain conditions. The planning rules here are very unclear. Even specific cases that are pointed to as proof that planning permission must be required given certain circumstances do not necessarily present precedents for other things. Now is an opportune time to ask what is the definition of a professional letter in Dublin and where should the right balance lie. Where some cities fall on this spectrum is that they want to permit all of the non-professional activity, do not want to permit any professional activity and will not grant any professional short-stay licences. I do not believe Dublin is in that place. There are lots of established short-term rental businesses in Dublin that are providing a great service which people want. The question is what else should be permitted. Where can we draw the line and how can we make clear to hosts where this line is in order that they know, as they approach that line, what they then need to do.

I am heartened that there seems to be consensus that the vast majority of our host community is engaged in the type of activity that does not present concerns.

We genuinely believe that clear regulation is good for our host community and good for our business. It does not currently exist in Ireland and this is why we are part of this conversation. I hope I have managed to deal with the question. I shall ask Natasha to address the issue of what we believe the likely outcome of the memorandum of understanding process shall be.