Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for complimenting the frequently asked questions section. This is a change so we need to be as clear as possible with people. We are designing advertisements at the moment and have provided some draft text for those advertisements. We need to tell people that changes are coming and they may need to register and also point them to where they can find more information. We need to push people to the information available online. We will try to be as clear as we can. We are also developing infographics to share online. We will take out advertisements in each of the main newspapers and in local newspapers next week making the point that changes are coming and they may affect people and that people may have to register. We will show them where to find more information. We will then repeat that advertising campaign two weeks later. There will, therefore, be two public media interventions, through newspapers, over the course of the month of June.

In addition, we will take web space in relevant locations through banner advertising or whatever else might be the case. There will be a social media campaign to push this using different channels in the Department. We will also ask local authorities to push it over their social media channels. Some local authorities have excellent social media as a result of events such as Storms Emma and Ophelia. People pay attention to them because they provide information on road closures and other matters. We will ask local authorities to push the campaign through their social media channels. The campaign will be to try to get the facts to as many people as possible who will be affected in the rent pressure zones.

One of the positive aspects of this, when it comes to other types of planning, is that this activity must happen in public for it to work. If someone needs to find a property to rent or wants to let a property as a short-term letting, he or she must advertise it and that is done online. While there are a number of platforms which provide this service, it helps that the activity is public because 90% of the heavy lifting is identifying these properties, be they short-term lets of second properties or principal private residences.

The declaration in the regulations strengthens the ability to enforce under different laws. Mr. John Downey of Dublin City Council has been taking the lead on this and he will communicate with other local authorities next Tuesday about guidance as to how to pursue enforcement. The Department has been in discussion about providing additional resources, which means money. It will not be a significant amount of money in the overall scheme of things but it is necessary so that new resources can be hired to do this.

Other steps will be taken on enforcement but I will not go into those in detail because I do not want to advertise them to people who might try to evade them. We have looked closely at this issue. A certain ease is lent to quick and steady enforcement because the marketplace is online. We are finalising reporting arrangements as to how enforcement is proceeding as these new changes bed down over the coming months and into next year.