Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Finally, regarding recommendation 4, there are a number of issues with the information provided, all of which relates to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. Three specific actions were recommended by the committee, which were as follows.

The first one was to create a reference number for each property reported to the RTB as unregistered in order that the individual or individuals making a referral have a record of same. While the RTB stated in the relevant minute of the Minister that it "does not disclose detailed information in relation to the specifics of cases", the board confirmed that it will "examine the creation and implementation of a system of reference numbers and a related database for all referrals". However, in this latest item of correspondence, the RTB appears to contradict this commitment. The board confirms that each referral is given a unique internal number; however, it "does not provide updates on referrals and does not comment on the compliance of individual landlords, on investigation cases or on potential prosecutions". The committee's recommendation was that the person contacting the RTB would be given a reference number for his or her referrals. I propose that we express the committee's disappointment at the lack of progress in implementing a system whereby those who contact the RTB are given a reference number for their referral, and I request that the Department clarify this response in light of the minute of the Minister.

The second part of our recommendation was that the RTB establish a target timeframe for resolving each reported case. The RTB has given a timeframe for its response to members of the public upon making a referral, rather than the timeline for resolving each referral.

At best the recommendation has been misunderstood. I suggest we request clarity as to whether the RTB intends to develop a target timeframe for resolving referrals to the board, or any form of performance metric.

The third part of our recommendation was that the RTB should publish a register of tenancies for student-specific accommodation as a matter of priority. While it is welcome that the proposed register of tenancies for student accommodation has been published online, it appears to have been last updated in June 2022. I propose that we ask the RTB to clarify its protocols for updating the register. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank members for allowing the time to set that out. It is important that we follow up on recommendations we have made and hold bodies to the commitments made in the minute, which is the key bit, of the Minister, which provides the Government's response to this committee's recommendations.