Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2015
605. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps being taken to increase the efficiency of decision-making in disputes by the Private Residential Tenancies Board given that speedy decisions are in the best interest of both tenants and landlords and that prolonged disputes can leave a landlord without rental income despite facing mortgage repayments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45837/15]
View answerThe Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.
As the PRTB replaces the Courts for the vast majority of landlord and tenant disputes, there are statutory time periods laid down in the Residential Tenancies Act to provide for due process. There are a number of factors that may delay the processing of a case including where adjournment requests are made or where there are difficulties locating a party to the dispute.
The PRTB received 3,374 applications for dispute resolution in 2014, a 104% increase since 2008 when 1,650 cases were received. In 2014, some 80% of cases were processed or closed within 5 to 6 months. Only 7% of what were the most difficult cases were taking 9 to 10 months to process.
The PRTB is continuously reviewing operations to increase efficiency and processing times continue to improve in 2015. The PRTB reports that currently 82% of cases are completed in 4 months or less. Only 2% of the most troublesome cases are taking in excess of 6 months to complete.
A telephone mediation service was introduced in late 2013 as an alternative means to address disputes. Processing times for telephone mediation cases in 2014 were typically 10 to 12 weeks. Processing times for telephone mediation have improved further in the course of 2015 to 6 to 9 weeks.
I am confident that the Board continues to discharge its statutory obligations in an independent, fair and efficient manner.
