I want to raise the role of the Residential Tenancies Board in the registration of landlords. In 2016, a total of 29 people were prosecuted for not having their properties registered.

That dropped to only ten last year. In the area of my constituency around UCC, a survey done by the residents association, which examined the records of 242 properties, found that 142 of the properties had tenants in them but were not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. We had a lot of problems during the summer months last year around UCC. What action is the Government going to take to make sure the Residential Tenancies Board follows through on its role by making sure that all landlords whose properties are occupied with tenants are registered?

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is the responsibility of the Residential Tenancies Board to make sure properties are registered. There seem to be a lot of unregistered properties, from my own sense of things, particularly in our city centres, including Dublin and Cork, and that is a real problem in terms of taxes unpaid and tenants being unprotected. I know the board has received a significant increase in budget in recent years so that it can carry out inspections and take enforcement action. From what the Deputy is telling me, obviously, more needs to be done. I will certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about that and ask him to talk to the Deputy directly to see what we can do in the interim.