Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 April 2013
170. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps that have been taken to reduce the waiting time to hear cases by the PRTB; the relief that is available to those who spend months waiting for an adjudication in some cases without receiving any rent payments during that time. [17747/13]
View answerThe Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector. I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB).
Following a review of the Residential Tenancies Act in 2009, the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2012 was published on 19 July 2012 and Second Stage concluded in the Dáil on 24 January 2013.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012 builds on what has been achieved by the Act and by the PRTB and provides for the further development of the rental sector into the future. It will, inter alia, extend the remit of the Act and of the Board to the approved housing body sector and will give legal effect to the administrative merger of the Rent Tribunal and the PRTB. It will also streamline and simplify aspects of the Act to assist the Board in meeting its service obligations and in addressing the additional demands associated with the proposed expansion of its remit.
While the Bill addresses a wide range of issues, there are some other aspects still under development which I hope to bring forward for consideration during the Bill’s passage through the Oireachtas. In particular, I intend to provide for the establishment of a deposit protection scheme to address the illegal retention of tenants’ deposits by landlords. I also hope to address a number of other key on-going concerns within the sector such as the over holding of rented property by tenants.
