Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have been contacted by somebody in Cork about a new development in the rental sector. A company called HomeHak has apparently taken over a significant part of the rental market in Cork and is spreading beyond that area. People are required to put together CVs that include the name of the tenant, background references, employment history, minimum rent desired, maximum rent, the number of rooms desired, the number of household members, the number of children and a photograph of the potential tenant. The CV is put up on a website and after a period of time, people must pay to keep it online. The concern that is being expressed is that people are potentially vulnerable to predatory behaviour because the system is based on photos and so on. This system also creates a two-tier private rental market. Landlords can select people on the basis of these CVs, meaning people on low incomes or with a particular family make-up have absolutely no chance of getting a private rental property. I ask the Taoiseach to look into the matter.

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