Ms Caitríona Walsh:

I was not sure whether I should deal with them point by point or by way of summary. The common thread in the members' questions is that anti-social behaviour is a major issue for people. It is very easy for me to give the standard response, which is that the Garda has a role in that, but the members said that if one makes a complaint the gardaí will probably say one must contact the PRTB or send one somewhere else. In fairness, they have extensive powers under the Public Order Acts to deal with criminal damage or the problems we hear about such as people littering gardens and causing foul smells. I know that anti-social behaviour involves much more than that but it might even be somebody living next door not having the enjoyment of their own property. If they are creative about it, local authorities can do something about litter pollution, but the Deputy is right in saying that the PRTB has a role in that regard. The difficulty with anti-social behaviour is that it is across the board. Local authorities have the same problems in dealing with anti-social behaviour. The behaviour exhibited can be threatening to people. It can put them in fear and therefore people may have difficulty in reporting it or saying what they want to say about it.

The Deputy is right. From what I can see in the literature, the PRTB deals with the problem by saying it is primarily the landlord's responsibility to regulate his or her tenancy properly and to ensure that tenancy is operated under the terms of the legislation and the law. That is fine and dandy if someone has a proactive landlord but, as the Deputy said, if someone has a landlord who does not want to know he or she has a difficulty.

There is a facility in the PRTB whereby if the landlord will not do anything about the problem third parties can make an application to the PRTB. From what I have seen in the past 12 months, there was a very successful outcome in Cork. The reason it was successful is that a band of residents got together, rather than being a lone voice in the wilderness, and made a complaint to the PRTB. That complaint was followed up by the PRTB, it was determined through the courts, and the residents received compensation for the failure of the landlord to act. That is something people should be thinking about also. There is safety in numbers, but I agree it is an issue. From what I have seen, the PRTB looks on anti-social behaviour as one of the dispute resolutions that must be fast-tracked, but the Deputy is right in that fast-tracking appears to take about five months. Five months is a long time for somebody who is suffering from anti-social behaviour. I agree it is an issue that needs to be examined.

There are common threads in what the Deputies said. The second concerns the deposit retention issue. There has been much talk about that. The Minister commissioned research to be done on it. A report was commissioned, which I believe was published at the end of the year, and it provides certain solutions to the deposit retention problem. I understand what the Deputy is saying. It appears to me from the figures that the bulk of the work of the PRTB - or the residential tenancy board, as it will be called - involves deposit retention issues, but I do not think it has progressed any further than that. Suggestions have been made for dealing with that, ranging from the Rolls Royce suggestion, which would have a huge amount of Exchequer support, to other systems, but as far as I can see that is still in the mix.

The Deputy is right that the workload has mushroomed. The board is considering outsourcing some of the common services, such as registration of tenancies. It is outsourcing that to allow it to concentrate on the most important issues. It is a question of selecting the most important issue and focusing on that. I understand that is an issue for people.

Regarding the point about the Department of Social Protection asking tenants to renegotiate rents, I did not know that, and from what I can see of the rules of the PRTB and the legislation, rents cannot be increased or decreased without notice to the tenant, but if the Department of Social Protection is reducing the amounts, that leaves tenants in a vulnerable position.

Deputy Stanley spoke about repairs. My understanding is that 80% of the tenancy fees that come in for landlords registering tenancies go to the PRTB, with 20% going to the local authority. That specifically relates to monitoring and inspecting properties. My understanding is that that is being done.