asked the Minister for Justice if he will state (a) how many applications under Part III of the Rent Restrictions Act, 1946, have been made since the 1st November, 1947, in the County Borough of Dublin and the Borough of Dun Laoghaire; (b) how many have been dealt with by his Department; (c) what staff have been appointed to assist the district justice in the consideration of these applications; and (d) how many valuers are at the disposal of the district justice, and whether the Minister is satisfied that the district justice has ample clerical staff and valuers to deal with the volume of applications to be dealt with by him under this Act.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Rent Restrictions Act, 1946.
Up to and including Saturday, the 22nd May, 973 applications for provisional orders under Part III of the Rent Restrictions Act, 1946, have been received in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court. These include applications from the Borough of Dun Laoghaire. The number of cases disposed of by the district justice assigned to the work totals 422, provisional orders having been made in 315 cases and 107 applications having been dismissed. In addition, 53 cases are ripe for decision and may be expected to be dealt with by the justice in the course of the next day or so, if, in fact, they have not already been dealt with.
Applications by landlords under Section 31 of the Act for the revocation or modification of provisional orders total 80 to date, of which 64 have been dealt with and 16 stand adjourned.
As regards staff, on the clerical side, one senior District Court clerk and one junior clerk have been assigned to the work, while, on the technical side, one District Court valuer has been appointed pursuant to Section 35 of the Act to assist the justice.
I am disposed to regard the working of Part III of the Act which, as the Deputy is doubtless aware, introduced a wholly novel scheme, as being still in the experimental stage, and I think that it is altogether too soon to attempt to form any definite view as to what the ultimate staff requirements may be. I may say, however, that I consider that the existing staff is reasonably adequate for the work but, saying this, I do not wish to be taken as ruling out any possibility of an increase in the staff if and when I am satisfied that such an increase would be warranted. In this connection I may, perhaps, mention that the whole question is kept under constant review in my Department.