Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 November 2010
210 Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will consider the points raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43191/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe retention or the incomplete return of tenancy deposits feature in a large portion of the disputes cases referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) and statistics in this regard are available in that body's 2009 Annual Report which is available online at www.prtb.ie .
In November 2009 I announced the preliminary outcomes of my review of the Residential Tenancies Act which regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented sector and under which the PRTB was established. Among those outcomes is a commitment to introduce fixed fines where deposits are found to have been illegally retained and to consider the issue in more detail.
The PRTB commissioned research on the viability of a separate deposit retention scheme in Ireland pursuant to its function under section 151(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act to provide advice to the Minister concerning policy in relation to the private rented sector. On foot of this research, the Board endorsed my proposal to introduce fixed fines as outlined above and also decided not to recommend the establishment of a deposit retention scheme.
My Department has considered a number of critical issues in this area, and I have decided that it is prudent to proceed at present with the fixed penalty proposal but not with a wider deposit retention scheme. It is my belief that the fixed penalty model will act as a significant deterrent for landlords who might otherwise consider retaining a deposit without any legitimate grounds for so doing. I believe that this initiative will, over time, greatly reduce the current problem of deposit retention.
It is my intention to have the General Scheme of a Bill amending the Residential Tenancies Act before the Government very shortly.
