Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:

I thank the Deputy. Deputy O'Donoghue asked about a grading system for good or bad tenants and landlords. My initial reaction is that there is a power imbalance between the landlord and the tenant. The landlord is the one who owns the home and has the right to let it to the tenant or not. In that instance, the tenant is at a disadvantage. It would be dangerous territory to get into. One would have blacklisted tenants. One might have landlords who have been given a fail but tenants have no choice and have to take the property. I am not sure it would assist with the issues that people are facing.

As regards the standards, the Deputy asked about a need to look at how that is done. At present, properties that are inspected either pass or fail. Consideration may need to be given to putting in a sort of traffic light system. For example, Threshold has proposed a national car test, NCT, for housing. The name has stuck. When one brings a car for an NCT, there can be minor faults or major faults. It may be that an issue is flagged and, although the owner does not have to do anything immediately, it will need to be sorted for the next time the car is tested. There may be a need to reconsider how the issues are graded in that regard.

Another point I want to make is that, generally, we only ever see the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, report, which sets out that a specific number of properties were inspected, a particular number failed and a stated number were brought into compliance by the end of the relevant year. We are seeing low inspection rates, high failure rates and low compliance rates. It looks like a complete disaster. Within that, we do not know whether half the properties fail, for example, for want of a microwave or a fire blanket. In all such cases, where the issue is so small, one would expect those properties to be in compliance by the end of the year. This goes back to what another member mentioned, namely, the need for data and information when designing responses. Unfortunately, organisations like ours are working with a limited amount of information from official statistics, combined with what we are hearing and seeing on the ground. Certainly, something needs to be done about how the standards are enforced in the private rental sector. All anyone wants and deserves is a safe home in which to live. People are paying good money for it and they want and need it to be safe. I thank Deputy Duffy for his questions.