Mr. Seán Ó Siochrú:

I will respond to the questions that relate directly to our research. One was on advocacy and having an advocate to put the case. We asked all of the families whether they feel more confident now and whether, if they were confronted by this again, they could handle it themselves and manage it. Not all, but almost all, said they could, but they would want and need an advocate with them. They stated they understand their rights much better but they are not confident they could meet the Residential Tenancies Board or the agencies involved. The day that people feel they do not need an advocate with them when going to these offices, and feel they will be fairly treated and will be able to respond in a comfortable manner is the day we should all look forward to.

On the issue of renovictions, in a way the Deputy answered the question himself. The people we were looking at had avoided homelessness and their experience came from 18 months to nine months ago. At that period, the situations mostly involved landlords with one or two properties who were going the simple route and thought they would get away with it. Committee members might be amazed by how many of them got the letters wrong and, of course, they were spotted immediately. Support in this regard gave tenants another three months to stay in their housing. If anybody is playing the system now it is landlords, because we are seeing far more corporate vulture funds and corporate landlords. The professionalisation of the landlord system is going in the wrong direction. It is going corporate professional and vulture fund professional. They are the ones playing the system and this is the effect we are seeing.