Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The AHBs will register their first tenancy with the RTB and all tenancies are registered. They will also make an annual return to the interim housing regulator. I disagree with Deputy Ó Broin that larger housing bodies will automatically have the resources. The projected cost of the new measures, and the additional annual requirements, is approximately €500,000, which is €5 million over ten years and is significant for a not-for-profit sector. It is not as if these are not tracked or registered as things stand. This is not the sector we were going to focus on as, to the best of my knowledge, it is a compliant sector and does not tend to generate many complaints. The tenants are long-term tenants in the main, and 12-month roll-over leases are rare.

As Deputy Boyd Barrett said, these housing bodies seem to be the main vehicle for delivery of housing in the sector and we do not look for local authorities to register tenants annually. AHB tenancies are effectively the same as they involve Clúid, their tenants are on council waiting lists and they are housed in co-operation with the local authorities but we are considering placing a significant burden on them with this. The market rent aspects of the legislation do not apply to the AHB sector so why do we need to have annual registration? Would it not make sense to require them to make an initial registration and to reregister if there is a change of tenant or every five or seven years? If we are not proceeding with the rent transparency register, capturing details for publication and to get a better picture of the situation is not relevant. We will be placing a substantial financial burden on the sector. There will be a need for extra resources and this will lead to extra costs. St. Vincent de Paul Housing Trust in Malahide has small developments in the town and in Wexford. Who will do the registration for them? The Minister is also proposing doubling down on them by imposing penalties on what is a not-for-profit sector. It is over the top and too onerous so I will have to oppose section 16.