Mr. Patrick Robinson:

Those kinds of examples are incredibly disheartening and I am sure it is tragic for those people involved. Clear and fair regulation of the short-term rental sector would play a very strong role in preventing that kind of outcome. Looking at short-term rentals in isolation versus the situations that apply to long-term rentals also may lead one to take certain steps and make certain choices that have some knock-on consequences there. With regard to the issue referred to by the Deputy, the previous speakers from Threshold and Trinity College spoke a lot about what else would be going on in the market if short-term rentals did not exist at all. It sounds as though the level of pressure in Ireland is such that there could be negative outcomes regardless. I hope that I can assure the committee that this is not the outcome we seek from this process.