Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. Responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority. If a property has been found to be non-compliant with the Regulations, it is a matter for the local authority to determine what action is necessary and appropriate. Under sections 18A and 18B of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, a housing authority may serve an Improvement Notice or Prohibition Notice, respectively, where a property is found to be non-compliant.

Inspections of private rental accommodation under these Regulations are conducted by a number of different grades, including environmental health officers and, in a small number of local authorities, by authorised contractors.

The Government is committed to ensuring that a stock of high quality accommodation is available for those who live in the private rented sector. Housing for All sets a target of 25% for the inspection of all private residential tenancies from 2021. A total of €9 million in Exchequer funding is being made available by my Department to local authorities this year to help them meet their private rental inspection targets. An all-time high of over 63,500 inspections were conducted last year.

Annual data in respect of the level of inspection and enforcement activity by each local authority is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/#private-rented-inspections