At the outset, I join colleagues in passing on my condolences to the family of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. He was born in Dingle in 1930. He was a man who was regarded as a hero of the country. I have family abroad who believe his voice is synonymous with home and all that is good about Ireland. I wish to pay my deepest respects on behalf of the people of Wexford, whom I represent, to his wife, Helena, and his family. Without a shadow of a doubt, he will be fondly remembered. He was often copied but never equalled. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

I also welcome Natasha O'Brien. I say that with great sadness. This is probably her first visit to Dáil Éireann. We can only commend her on being brave enough to come out on behalf of every victim of violence, not just women but all victims. I thank her.

I want to bring to the Taoiseach's attention today the story of John, who gave us his experience as a landlord on "Liveline" yesterday. Essentially, John's story is one of extreme unfairness. He and his family are the victims of a rogue tenant, to whom he rented his one and only rental property in January 2023. By November 2023 the tenant had stopped paying rent and refused the landlord any access to his own property. John started the process of ending the tenancy, as the tenant was not responding to any form of contact. There are six steps to be carried out, as depicted on the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, website, none of which the tenant engaged in. During the waiting period for a hearing date for the dispute resolution process, John discovered that not only did the tenant owe him up to €14,000 in rent arrears, but they had been subletting his property on the Airbnb website in recent months. Airbnb refused to engage with John because he was not the host customer. He is very aggrieved at this, as one can imagine, because it is rubbing salt into the wound of a €14,000 debt.

John did everything by the book and was eventually at the stage where he could apply to the RTB for a hearing date, which took six months. When the rogue tenant turned up, they offered no mitigating factors. The bottom line is that John followed the entire legal process. He engaged a letting agent who was a small business owner, which, as a landlord, he endorsed. He paid his tax. He did everything by the book. He put the lease through the RTB and he paid for that process. Yet the tenant, who offered no mitigation as to why they stopped paying rent, gained a profit from airing the same property on Airbnb, with – I am sure - no income tax paid to Revenue and, probably, no follow-up by Revenue.

In this instance the RTB says that it takes 31 weeks for the average process to be undertaken. Having gone through the process and the determination that the eviction orders were all correct, it was then appealed even though no mitigating factors had been advanced by the tenant. That process ended seven weeks ago and no determination order has yet been received by the landlord. The tenant is still in situ. The landlord has been told that when the determination order is received, the tenant will be given two weeks' notice to vacate the property. If the tenant does not vacate, John's only recourse will be to go to the courts to have the order enforced.

What I am saying is that the RTB is dysfunctional and no longer fit for purpose. We have a property that should be available to renters. The landlord in his own testimony states that once he retrieves his property, he will sell it and no longer be a landlord. We are carrying a disservice through the form of an RTB that is absolutely not fit for purpose. It is not the first time this has been said in the House. Will the Taoiseach tell us what he is going to do about it?

At the outset, I want to say I am sorry for getting a bit passionate in the last answer, but I think everybody in the House is just so angered. I thank Deputy Cairns for raising the important issue.

I thank Deputy Murphy for highlighting this issue relating to the RTB. I know she is highlighting a broader issue but if she wants to send to my office the details of the case, as an example of some of what she describes as the dysfunctionality being experienced by people using the RTB, I will be very happy to take a look at it and ask the Minister for housing to take a look at it. It is very important when it comes to the rental market that we have a regulated market and an organisation that can oversee it. This is the job of the RTB. Its job is to set out the rules to tenants and landlords. Often in the House, landlords can be demonised. It is hard to have a rental market without them. It is important that landlords know that if they experience a rogue tenant, there is cause for recourse which is administered efficiently and effectively.

I do not want to stray too far into the specific case because I do not know enough about it, and nor would it be appropriate for me to do so. I believe there is clarity on the rules and structures of the RTB. Deputy Murphy seems to have an experience that suggests they are not applied or take far too long. If she wants to send on those examples to me, I will be very happy to ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to have a look at them.

From a wider point of view, the Government is carrying out a review of the rental market because we are eager to keep landlords in the market, particularly small landlords without whose properties we would see the property supply further constrained. I am happy to take a look at the situation.

I suggest respectfully that if the Taoiseach needs examples, he should undertake a review of the RTB. Believe you me, I could extend a level of examples. This is not the first time I have mentioned on the floor of the House that the RTB is no longer fit for purpose. It is the umpteenth time.

Why are we running the country through the media? Why is Natasha O'Brien here today to give us an example of how the system does not work? Why do we wait for "Prime Time" to bring to the fore things that the Government consistently buries its head in the sand about? The Government denied there was any such thing as go-away money. It refused to investigate it until "Prime Time" gave it the evidence. It is the same in Straffan, County Kildare, where there were numerous reports to the Department of agriculture. It seems that all and its mother knew the cruelty being carried out at Shannonside Foods. A week after "Prime Time" exposed it, the slaughterhouse and abattoir were closed down.

We cannot continue to run the country based on what the media tells us. The people in this House stand up frequently and advise the Government of the issues that need to be dealt with. It is the same with our CAMHS system, I regret to say. Numerous times I have mentioned that we have a referral issue in CAMHS in south Wexford. The Minister continues to tell me there is no waiting list. The issue is that it is not accepting patients. The head burying has to stop. I ask the Taoiseach, with all due respect, to start to recognise the issues represented by the Deputies who represent their people and do not wait for "Prime Time" or "Liveline" or Natasha to bring it to our attention, with all due respect.

Deputy Murphy has rolled an enormous number of significant matters into her question. It is supposed to be a question on one matter. I am sure the Taoiseach will do his best.

I will do my best. First, I remind Deputy Murphy that I, too, am a Deputy. I have been elected by the people of Wicklow on three occasions and I am grateful for that. I do not need the media or anyone else, with the greatest respect to them, to let me know what the issues in my community are, and neither does anybody on the Government benches. The constant suggestion that those outside political parties are more in touch will be tested in due course with the electorate. We will see how we all get on.

We take these issues extremely seriously. The RTB is seeing its workload increase. It has 47,745 annual registrations. As a result, the Government needs to increase and is increasing the resources available to the RTB to ensure it can continue to manage the situation effectively and efficiently. I am happy to hear about the example - I say that to be helpful - because it is often useful to be able to put a real-life example to the system. I am happy to take it from the Deputy.

The Deputy referred to a range of other issues, including CAMHS. I am very happy to take any follow-up details from her. I know how important access to CAMHS is. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will shortly bring new mental health legislation before the House.