Ms Rosalind Carroll:

I will start with the comments of Deputy O'Sullivan.

In response to the first question in terms of more definite proposals, the RTB is a regulator and we do not make policy and, therefore, we have not strayed too far from that except to talk about the facts more than anything else. That is probably something we have a strength in trying to bring to the fore. That said, in 2014 we produced a report by DKM Economic Consultants, which went to the Minister with a series of recommendations - one of which related to rent certainty, and there were other recommendations on tax relief. The main recommendation in the report, which was independent of us, was that one needed to tie in tax reliefs with any regulation on the other side and that there had to be a balance between the two in order that it would not impact on supply. In terms of going further - I know the committee has talked about more measures on rent certainty, sale and security of tenure - some of that was discussed within that particular report. It is fair to say the issues that arose in 2014 have only increased since then so I would not take that report as being definitive. It was written at that time and the situation has continued to evolve since then.

The main point is that it is a matter for the policy makers and the Minister to make a decision on the recommendations of this committee in terms of what will be introduced. From the RTB perspective, we must think about the reactiveness of any decisions that are introduced, for example, if a further regulation is prompted on foot of the process. We must also think about the profile of our sector. I referred to the 29,000 landlords who have mortgage arrears of more than 12 weeks. We have indications that between 60% and 70% of landlords currently have a mortgage. Of those, we know perhaps 25%, if not more, are talking about wanting to sell. The difficulty with introducing regulation is how and when one gets there, for example, what is the direction of travel in order that one does not spark a reaction whereby one might want a more professional rental sector in the future, but in the meantime the 80% of landlords we currently have that own one to two properties decide to sell their properties tomorrow because they know that something is coming in.

Mention was made of rent certainty measures. Our experience is that they were talked about for 12 months and people started to increase their rent from 12 months prior to the discussions starting to take place and there was probably a little uplift straight after they came in. Our next rent index is not due out until June so we do not know if rents are starting to dampen as of yet. The reality is that we must bring certainty to where we are going or people will start to react in ways that we cannot determine. That is one of the key messages I want to give. It is not the role of the RTB to say one should do this or that, but we need a clear direction of travel for tenants so that they will understand where they want to go in the market but also for landlords in terms of increasing the supply of rental property and to try to give some understanding to the existing market in terms of where they will go. We must ensure that we do not create unintended consequences. Given our profile and knowledge of the sector, that would be where we could offer some assistance.

The length of time on disputes has been significantly reduced in the past three to four years. Now we provide two services in the case of disputes. We have a free mediation service and the waiting time for it is only four weeks to get an order. If a tenant or landlord chooses to go down the adjudication route one is talking about two to three months to get a determination order. Those times compare to an average of approximately 18 months previously. Three or four years ago that is where the RTB's timelines were, which indicates that significant efforts have been made.

It is also worth mentioning that the mediation service we now provide is the first of its kind. There is no other telephone mediation service in Ireland. It is a non-adversarial approach in terms of trying to address issues between tenants and landlords. It has led to a situation wherein we have far fewer appeals which means both landlords and tenants are happy following the process and do not appeal further up the line.