Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with Deputy Eoin Ó Broin in his comments on student accommodation. As I understand it, there is unanimous agreement in the Dáil that it should be included in rent pressure zones. Will the delegates give us their views on that matter and how it could be managed? I also seek their views on the proposed deposit protection scheme. What is the position on implementation of such a scheme? All members of the committee are concerned about the delay in setting up such a scheme, to which Threshold referred again recently.

The Bill provides the Residential Tenancies Board with independent powers of investigation. The board will no longer have to receive a complaint before initiating an investigation. How do the delegates see that working in practice? Will it involve random sampling or will an investigation be triggered by information derived from particular sources? Will the board, for example, investigate 20% of tenancies over a specific period? Will the delegates expand a little on that provision?

There is strong support in the House for the Bill which will strengthen enforcement in rent pressure zone, but I am concerned about areas outside them, some of which are in my constituency in Wicklow where we are seeing enormous increases in rent because landlords are afraid that they will be included in rent pressure zones in the future. To be fair to most landlords, the rents they are charging are way below market values, particularly in places such as Arklow. The big towns of Wicklow, Greystones and Bray are in a rent pressure zone but Arklow is not. Information coming to us is that because landlords in Arklow are afraid that it will be included in the next round, they are increasing rents significantly. The delegates have referred to the fact that landlords with properties in rent pressure zones who were charging rents way below market rates do not now have the ability to move to market rates. I ask them for their views on that issue.