Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To answer the Deputy's first question, I am not aware of any other issues with regard to valuations and independent assessments. If the Deputy is aware of any, I ask him to bring it to my attention. We have made abundantly clear to local authorities what the procedure is. We have had instances where properties have lain vacant for a long number of months, which is not something I support. With Covid, some properties were kept back for contingency reasons to house people in the event that they needed to isolate.

The Deputy's second question is not part of his written question but it is a valid one and I am happy to respond to it. I have read the report to which he referred, which was brought to my attention. I have asked my officials and the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to look at this matter in the round. I have made clear that I want rent transparency. It is important. It is also important that, where reasonable landlords provide deals or cut rents for tenants, we need to make sure that happens. In this instance, it appears an institutional investor artificially left the rent price higher than it actually was. I have asked my officials with the RTB to look at that matter.

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