Ms Rosalind Carroll:

In terms of due process, if a party wants to appeal that to a tribunal, they have 21 days in which to do so. Therefore, by the time the case is heard, it can add a further two to three months to the process. Thereafter, if a party does not adhere to the determination order, it is a case of going to the courts. In terms of going to the courts, currently we approach the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court sits at different times throughout the country and we do not have any control over those periods. They vary depending on adjournments and so on. Therefore, we would not have a specific timeline on that for the Deputy. The only aspect we have control over is the period up to the tribunal and getting the determination order from that.

The Deputy mentioned substandard accommodation and the tenants' fear of making complaints. Currently, we do not deal specifically with the standard of accommodation. It is the remit of the local authorities to do that, although we will hear about a dispute if a tenant makes the complaint, but we fund the inspection services provided by local authorities to the tune of approximately €2 million per annum. My understanding is that the Department is examining a more efficient method for the inspection of properties. More inspections would mean fewer complaints from tenants, and that fear would return. Proposals being examined are more shared services opportunities to try to increase the number of inspections that can take place. So far, we have funded up to €30 million in terms of inspections by local authorities.

The Deputy mentioned deposits. As he is aware, the amended Residential Tenancies Act provides for a deposit protection scheme. That is due to become operational in 2017. A significant amount of work needs to be done by us to prepare for that as the scheme involves a significant amount of money in terms of a potential €200 million to €300 million that we could end up holding. We need extensive IT services but we also need to be in a position where we can hand back that money quickly to tenants without causing their situation to worsen in terms of moving on. The timeline for that is 2017. We are beginning the procurement process in terms of the services we need to provide for that. As I mentioned in my opening statement, 20% of our cases are related to deposits, which is a decrease from the position previously. That means we have only 1% to 2% of disputes in our overall tenancies, so quite a limited number of cases are coming through to us.

Deputy Durkan mentioned the reliance on the rental sector. I did not mean to insinuate that we should rely on the rental sector. I believe it is inevitable that we will have a bigger rental sector than traditionally was the case when we consider incoming migration. As I said, 75% of non-Irish nationals are currently in the private rental sector and we also have an economy whereby more workers coming into the country are choosing to rely on the rental sector.

The third point I would make in terms of that is that, from what we can see, tenants are staying longer in the sector. Therefore, their reliance on the sector is for a longer period than we would have seen in the past. Even if they are on a pathway to home ownership, they are taking longer-----