Ms Rosalind Carroll:

Apologies for the delay - I want to ensure I start with the right information. Deputy Coppinger's first question was in regard to the 4% increase and whether that cap is too high. On the Deputy's other comments and the fact that inflation is running at a far higher level than that, from the perspective of the RTB, getting it down to 4% would be an achievement because we are quite far from that level, as the Deputy stated. I listened to a talk today from an academic who has recently studied the German market, which has a similar rental regulation regime to that in Ireland. There are still very high increases in Germany in spite of it having a regulatory framework that largely mirrors ours. The academic's take on the situation is very similar to my own, namely, that regulation must be accompanied by enforcement. The Bill before the committee provides for such enforcement. In Germany, as in Ireland, one piece was put in place but the enforcement to underpin it was not brought in.

I agree that there are issues in terms of us not understanding the exemptions. My point in referring to the exemptions is that I would like to be able to show the index without it and thus get a better picture of the inflation. I do not suggest that there is no inflation. There are contraventions but I cannot ascertain the volume thereof until I get data on the exemptions. There is much non-compliance in the German market in terms of people ignoring the regulations. We need to bring in enforcement. A positive aspect of the enforcement is that we will publish any sanctions, which will empower tenants to make a complaint to us, although not necessarily through our dispute mechanism. Tenants will also be protected by being able to make an anonymous complaint.

Deputy Coppinger asked how those investigations can be undertaken. Many tenants within the current structure access our dispute resolution service, which is entirely focused on two parties bringing evidence before us. That is a difficult step for tenants to taken in a restricted supply market in which landlords clearly have the upper hand. As such, tenants are not coming forward to the extent that would be expected in view of the evidence of contraventions in the market. It is very important for tenants to be able to come to us anonymously and that must be safeguarded as the legislation is progressed.