Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:

I will also just make a couple of points on a few things that were raised there. We are here today, we are volunteers, just to tell our stories. We are speaking on behalf of other genuine hosts we meet around the country. There are rogue operators in any industry but we are not here to talk about them. I am not an expert on Dublin housing policy but legislation that has been in place over the years has attempted to tackle various issues along the way. I do not think any of us here on this side are qualified to answer those kinds of questions because it is not our job. Our job is to tell committee members that what we do to earn our living is so important. Bad cases can sometimes make bad law and when you are trying to legislate for the worst-case scenario, the unforeseen consequences across a huge sector of our tourism industry could be radically impacted.

One thing that was mentioned was having a common approach for local authorities. That, in effect, is part of the issue. Each local authority needs to be able to look at their own area and apply their own standards and criteria because we all know constituencies across the country vary from one side to the other. I am from Cork, which is a massive county with huge differences from one side to the other so you cannot have a common approach. Yes, you need a common guideline or framework to work upon but it needs to be individual and people need to be able to make their case in front of them.