Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In my experience, constituents from all sides of the debate, whether they are landlords, tenants or neighbours, will approach me with issues. Frequently, neighbours will contact me about anti-social behaviour rather than the landlord or tenant. That is how the problem presents itself in the first place. I tend to advise my constituents about the PRTB remedy, although I give a health warning that there are long delays of ten months, a year or whatever. Many of my constituents will decide not to avail of the PRTB option because they cannot put up with the anti-social behaviour for such a long period. The delay is untenable. I do not think we can just take account of the length of time it takes at present. We must factor in the complaints that do not reach the board because of people bypassing it or availing of other options to remedy the matter, which sometimes include court options. The aim of establishing the PRTB was to avoid court options. It is important to remember that when considering the staff issue. One can do so much with IT. New technology is good for collection and administration but it will not solve the problem. Very often a human approach is needed, such as mediation, in order to resolve the problem.

New housing associations will be included, but they come in every variety because of the way they have been set up. Their inclusion will not be straightforward. Complaints by housing associations can differ greatly from those in the private market. Some housing associations take a firm hands-on approach with their tenants. A difficulty arises for other associations because the sector has been almost under-regulated. NAMA will also play a role, as some of its properties will end up being let. Obviously NAMA is looking at housing associations as a vehicle to administer those and the number that Ms Walsh mentioned could grow rapidly. It is important that we mark the provision as creating a new demand when considering the voluntary housing associations that will be included. We do not know how many will be added to the system. I would prefer if they joined rather than letting houses lie empty. I would also prefer that we did not have such a high number of people who are wholly dependant on rent supplement, RAS or whatever.

With regard to rent assistance, when Threshold conducted an analysis not so long ago, 61% of its clients reported that landlords had sought rent top-ups. Is that in the PRTB's bailiwick? Landlords are not supposed to seek top-ups but the research proves that rent assistance is below market rent and people have struggled to get accommodation for that amount. The findings throw light on another issue. Very often, when rent assistance is provided we have a body of law to protect people in private rental accommodation. Obviously, the longer a tenant resides in accommodation the greater his or her rights. The Department of Social Protection is undermining some of those rights by asking people, within the timeframe of a contract, to negotiate rent downwards. At the beginning of the year people might be told they can have €800 for a three-bedroom house in a designated place and the tenant must pay a portion of it. Tenants have rights in terms of not breaking the contract and an expectation that landlords will deal with them in a particular way. Six months later, the Department of Social Protection may tell a tenant to reduce his or her rent to €700. That is a serious conflict of interest. Tenants have tenancy rights which are being breached by the Government. That is the kind of issue that does not come to the fore. I am curious as to how the board will handle the matter. I have witnessed it happen quite a lot. Will the board be able to comment on rent control in the future? Can the board provide solutions? Does Ms Walsh see the PRTB as playing a role in resolving disputes? A multi-agency approach is the only way to deal with some disputes, particularly in cases of anti-social behaviour. For example, Deputy Stanley mentioned a case which obviously involved a drug issue. There may be other issues that will require a multi-agency approach in order to resolve a dispute. I would like to hear the views of Ms Walsh.

Finally, the retention of deposits has led to delays.

I am aware some changes will be made. Ms Walsh might address the deposit retention issue, because it absorbs a huge amount of the time of the PRTB.