Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the officials from the RTB and thank them for their submission, which I have read. It is clear from the submission that the RTB supports the vast majority of what is proposed in the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill 2018. I think we all support the proposal to give the RTB additional powers.

I agree with the proposal to simplify the regulations and the process, as alluded to in the submission. I am sure the process is quite onerous for the RTB. It is certainly onerous for tenants and landlords. I would like to hear the witnesses' views on a couple of things. As I have said, they support the vast majority of the legislation. What elements of it do they have concerns about? I recognise the fact that their job will be to work with the legislation if and when it is passed.

As I have said to the Minister and officials from the Department, I support most of the additional powers that are proposed in this legislation. It is all very well to provide for additional powers, but we need to consider how we can implement them and work with them in practice. Maybe the witnesses can advise the committee regarding its current resources. How many staff members does the RTB have? How many case officers does it have? What is the approximate case file workload at present? I am not asking for an exact figure. It is important that we get a sense of what the average workload of each of the RTB's case officers is. What is the turnaround time within which specific disputes are concluded? I know from my job as a Deputy for Dublin Fingal that some disputes are not concluded and go on for quite some time. Are the performance indicators that have been set by the RTB being met?

As we try to improve the rights of tenants, in particular, and private landlords, we need to make sure the RTB is properly resourced. What does it need? In an ideal world, what extra resources would it have to implement these powers?

Is it okay to ask the witnesses for their view on the possibility of the RTB taking responsibility for issues relating to owner-occupied management companies? As they will be aware, this committee, under the leadership of the Chair, has been doing substantial work on this matter. We believe this element of the residential sector needs to be strengthened because approximately 500,000 people are living in owner-occupied managed estates.

My focus is on the aspects of the proposed legislation that the representatives of the RTB do not like. What additional powers, if any, do they want? How are they going to implement this legislation? What staffing and other resources will be needed?

I thank the Chair for her indulgence. I have a final question. If this legislation is passed, how quickly do the witnesses envisage that they will be able to get up and running with the additional powers and regulations that are provided for in it? I will leave it at that for the moment.