Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2013
192. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to the publication of the 2011 annual report and accounts for the Private Residential Tenancies Board, the reason agency staff costs of €869,429 were incurred in 2011 in a relatively small organisation which employs 30 full time staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23157/13]
View answer193. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to the publication of the 2011 annual report and accounts for the Private Residential Tenancies Board, if he will provide an analysis by recipient and amount of the €1,410,445 incurred in 2011 on legal and professional fees. [23166/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together.
I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established on 1 September 2004 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and, consequently, my Department does not collate the information requested.
The Act regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector and the PRTB is charged with the administration of the Act including, inter alia, the resolution of landlord-tenant disputes. As a quasi-judicial body the PRTB can incur legal costs in a number of areas including the enforcement of registrations and of determination orders made by the Board.
The PRTB is required under the Employment Control Framework to reduce its staffing complement to 33 by end-2013. In previous years the PRTB employed agency staff from time to time to meet its workflow requirements.
