Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

Exactly. The 4% rent cap will not apply to new developments in an area, for example, or to units that have been substantially refurbished. The Housing Agency will examine the overall rent levels, and the market rent being charged for exempt properties, as well as the effect of the rent cap and conduct an overall assessment. It is early days and we will look to see how the measure is being implemented. The review will be completed in June. We will consult stakeholders and take into account this and other discussions and we will examine all the various procedures. We expect this to be a relatively short review and then we will report to the Minister.

We have spent a great deal of time talking about the detailed process for the RPZs but looking at the big picture, the Minister and the Government has always been clear that supply is at the heart of this issue and, ultimately, the best way to ensure a functioning, viable, sustainable rental market is to have sufficient supply and to try to develop the structure of the market in order that we have a segment where there is rental property available for people at non-market rents and to develop the not-for-profit sector for middle income earners and younger, more mobile workers to enable that part of the market. There is no ideal measure and we are willing to review this and learn.

We also need to take into account that this is a significant intervention in the rental market. Imposing rent regulation is a big step and we need to be careful always to protect against a flight from the market by investors. This is why we have been careful with the criteria and why we have been clear about how this needs to be transparent, objective and evidence-based. We need to be absolutely on our guard that there are not unforeseen consequences such as investors not wanting to invest or landlords selling up and getting out of the rental market because the priority is a viable, functioning rental market. That is the big picture behind these measures.

The Chairman asked about what we are doing about standards of rented accommodation. That is an important issue going forward. There is a section in the rental strategy about standards in private rented accommodation and we have reviewed the standards regulations and brought them into line with modern requirements. The Minister signed them in January and they will take effect at the beginning of July. The responsibility for the inspection of rental properties in the private rented sector and ensuring compliance rests with local authorities. One of our objectives in the rental strategy is to increase the number of inspections and to strengthen the enforcement of standards. We are conscious that a review was published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, on the performance of local authorities in carrying out these functions during 2014 and its findings highlighted a low rate of compliance and a lack of consistency of approach across the local authorities in conducting inspections. Our plan is to develop guidelines, which we will send to local authorities before the second quarter and before the new regulations come into force to help address NOAC's findings and facilitate standardisation of approach and procedures for inspection and enforcement. We will also engage with local authorities to agree targets to increase the number of properties they inspect and the way in which they inspect them. The strategy sets a target of 25% of all private rented accommodation to be inspected annually. Currently, it is approximately 10% and it is much lower in some areas. That target is our objective and, in their feedback, the local authorities said they are happy to work with us on that basis.

We will seek specific ring-fenced funding to enable local authorities to increase their inspection teams and to roll out a more joined-up approach and a standardised framework nationally for inspections going forward. We will also work with them to see if we can develop a shared service function around this. Local authorities could either set up a national office or even engage in regional co-operation to pool their resources to develop the inspection function. Some local authorities are effective. Dublin City Council, for example, has been a leader in this regard. Its officials conducted many inspections in 2014 and the standard of accommodation has improved. A great deal of substandard and poor quality accommodation has been taken out of the system as a result of the regulations and we want to continue to build on this. We are clear that there will not be a lowering of basic quality standards at a time of housing crisis. That is another important pillar of the strategy.

We have spent a great deal of time talking about RPZs, which comes under the heading, "Security", but the strategy contains other measures relating to security. There is a section on services, which deals primarily with the services the RTB can provide to both landlords and tenants. We also talked about supply and standards. Those four areas are equally important when looking at the big picture in the rental sector.