asked the Minister for the Environment if he is satisfied that the law requiring the registration of private landlords is being complied with.
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Landlord Registration Law.
11.
Housing authorities are empowered to make bye-laws under section 70 of the Housing Act, 1966, relating to private rented housing accommodation. Model bye-laws circulated by my Department to the authorities provide for the registration with the authorities of the owners of rented houses in which there are more than two dwellings. The making of bye-laws in all cases is subject to confirmation by me. To date, a total of 39 housing authorities have adopted the bye-laws. Where bye-laws are in operation the enforcement of the bye-laws is a matter for the housing authority.
All housing authorities were requested by my Department in November last to furnish information relating to the registration of landlords and dwellings. Returns have not yet been received from all the authorities. Pending the receipt of the outstanding returns and the examination of all the returns, it is not possible for me to say if the law relating to the registration of certain landlords is being complied with generally.
Might I ask the Minister, arising out of the last question and the supplementaries by various Deputies, if in respect of the Dublin area he could give us any idea of the level of registration by landlords?
I have not got that information readily available.
Surely if the Minister is concerned, as he says he is, with this problem, one of the most important things he could do is to find out what is the present position in the Dublin area, because the people being exploited are generally young people looking for houses. There is also a considerable amount of tax evasion arising out of this question. Therefore, it is a matter of great urgency from the Minister's point of view.
That is a different question. Question No. 12.
Might I ask the Minister how many prosecutions have taken place for non-registration?
That is a separate question.
As far as Dublin Corporation are concerned, the number of prosecutions since 1974 was 363; the number of notices served, 1,470; and the number of fines, 3,870.
That is £10 fine on average per case and that is supposed to be a deterrent to breaking the law?
Further replying to Deputy Browne, I have some information here which he requested. The number of buildings registered by Dublin Corporation concerning the bye-laws since they were confirmed on 31 October 1974 was 1,337; dwellings registered 6,949 and landlords registered 1,075.
Could the Minister give us any idea of these figures as percentages of the number of houses existing and landlords? What do these figures represent in percentages?
I have not got that information available.
But these figures are meaningless without some appreciation of the numbers involved, both as to landlords and to flats in private dwellings.
The position is that all local authorities were requested by my Department in November last to furnish the necessary information. Some of them have and some of them have not. We have sent out reminders. We have been in touch with those who have not sent in the information and, when we receive all of the information, we shall correlate it and we shall then have valuable information and statistics available.
Is it not a fact that the total number and the percentages, as suggested by me, is one question which should be resubmitted to local authorities? Is the Minister asking the question of the total number and these figures as a percentage of the total number?
No, Deputy.
Therefore, the Minister has no idea of the real efficiency of this Act, whether it is working at all, whether it is 2 per cent, 20 per cent or whatever?
My question relates to the Minister's last reply. He indicated that in November of last year he requested this information from local authorities and he has not yet got it. Does the Minister consider such a response from local authorities adequate and, if not, what action is he taking to ensure that this essential information is got as quickly as possible by his Department, because it is a matter of concern to all sides of this House?
My Department were in touch with local authorities by telephone some time ago. We intend to take firm action against local authorities who do not submit the necessary information. I have not got in front of me details of the information which was requested from the local authorities.
What does "firm action" mean and when will this information requested by two Deputies be made available to the House? When will the Minister be in a position to know? What does "firm action" mean and when will the Minister actually know what is the situation?
These are questions which could go on interminably.
As a new Deputy, if the Minister in reply to a question volunteers information and, instead of answering the first question answers another, surely we are entitled to ask supplementaries?
Might I ask the Minister is it not the case that the figures he gives for Dublin represent such a tiny fraction of the amount of private rented accommodation recorded in the 1971 Census—the amount of which has considerably increased since—as to demonstrate clearly a total and flagrant abuse of the law?
That is not true. The figures which I gave are actual figures and are not related to percentages.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy FitzGerald, we are now getting into argument and this can go on for ever so long——
The Minister of State has misunderstood my question. The 1971 Census in regard to housing reports the amount of private rented accommodation. The amount shown in Dublin is so many times greater than the figure given by the Minister that surely this reflects the fact that the law is not being abided by. Would the Minister look into the question of the contrast between the figures we have for rented accommodation and the amount of registration and see that action is taken to ensure that the law is being abided by?
Is it not a fact that the landlord lobby is much stronger than the flat-dwellers lobby and that is why these inquiries have never been carried out even though the Act has been in operation since 1974?
That is not so.
(Interruptions.)
The Minister of State does not know what the percentages are. He has not got a clue.
The position is that the question asked was in relation to the law requiring the registration of private landlords.
The very first thing any competent Minister would do when such a question is raised is to look at the census to see how many dwellings there are.
It is an awful pity that a census was not taken in 1976. We would then have more up-to-date information.
If the Minister of State knew anything about the census he would know that the 1976 Census would not cover housing.