Mr. Tom Dunne:

May I add to that? When the RTB was created under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 it was a big statement by the State to take the resolution of disputes in the landlord and tenant area away from the courts and give them to a new body. That was done for the simple reason that going through courts was often traumatic for tenants and for landlords, it took a long time and it was often difficult to access the courts. The legislation was set up and drafted against some 160 or 170 years of landlord and tenant law. It is very complex. One thing that would help is if this review of the legislation could be undertaken by the Department to simplify some of the procedures and some of the stuff that the board has to do in order to get through its dispute resolution processes. That in itself would free up resources for other activities. The other point I would make is we could look at what information could be shared with other bodies such as local authorities. We have to be empowered through legislation to do that and other bodies have to be empowered through legislation to do it. If those things could be done I think the RTB could be more efficient and effective in its operations.