Mr. John McCarthy:

Looking at the number of families presenting as homeless in Dublin, the view from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive is that approximately 40% of these have had tenancies coming to an end in the private rented sector. Approximately the same amount arise because of what are called "family reasons", etc. We certainly hear anecdotal evidence similar to what the Deputy has described, where a notice to quit might have been served on the basis of a property being sold or used by a family member before the property comes back on the market. There is an item of legislation going through both Houses designed to strengthen the enforcement powers available to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to be able to track those sorts of cases and it has just finished Second Stage in the Dáil. Some issues are still being considered with a view to introducing amendments on Committee Stage or possibly in the Seanad. The matter has been brought to our attention and although we do not have hard data, we want to put the RTB in a position to be able to track and identify those cases and deal with them as appropriate.