asked the Minister for the Environment when it is intended to introduce regulations under section 26 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982.
6.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Private Rented Dwellings.
5.
asked the Minister for the Environment when the public register of private rented accommodation, which was promised in the Fine Gael-Labour Programme for Government, will be published.
I propose to take Questions No. 5 and 6 together.
In my reply to Question No. 222 of the 16 February 1983 and in the reply given by the Minister of State to Question No. 18 of 27 February 1983 it was indicated that consultations would take place with housing authorities on the scope of a registration system for private rented accommodation, the standards to be prescribed in regulations under section 26 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act 1982 and the question of enforcement and administration related to these matters. Consultations with representatives of housing authorities have since taken place and I am at present considering how best to proceed in the light of these consultations, bearing in mind the need to ensure as far as practicable that adverse consequences do not ensue either for the supply of private rented accommodation or the levels of rents charged for such accommodation and that whatever registration requirements and standards may be applied will be capable of being enforced effectively by local authorities.
My understanding of section 26 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) (Amendment) Act is that it refers to the dwellings which were rent controlled. Regulations under that section are necessary in order to ensure that landlords repair houses to the standard for which they have been granted rent increases. At present it is not possible for the tenants of those houses to force landlords to carry out such repairs. I do not think this is tied to the question of a register of private rented accommodation. Will the Minister tell the House when he intends to introduce the regulations under section 26 so as to make the tribunal more effective?
The regulations relate specifically to formerly controlled dwellings, and they were published on 26 July 1982.
The regulations were not issued under section 26.
The regulations we had consultations about, if we are talking about the same thing, are in the process of being defined. We had consultations with all housing authorities, and the Deputy will appreciate that it takes some time to have consultations with more than 80 housing authorities.
The point in relation to the regulations is that people are being charged market rents up to the time the tribunal was established on the basis that the houses were in good order, but until such time as the regulations under section 26 are introduced the tenants cannot get landlords to put their property in order. As a result many people are paying increased rents — in some cases the State is subsidising those rents — for substandard houses and there is no way to force landlords to bring them up to standard. On what date does the Minister intend to bring the regulations into operation?
As soon as it is possible to complete all the consultations.
With regard to Question No. 6 which deals with the register of private rented accommodation I should like to know if the Minister in the course of his reply dealt with all private rented accommodation or only the flats or houses which were rent restricted previously?
I was dealing with all private rented accommodation.