Mr. Niall Byrne:

To make an observation on the role and function of the RTB. As we are the Residential Tenancies Board, our number one priority is to work to ensure that the conditions are present whereby landlords and tenants can have a positive experience from renting.

There are many other aspects to the market and the sector that are not directly our responsibility. We are here to help the committee and to share our knowledge with it. At the same time, while I know these are matters of huge public interest and importance, we are not always necessarily the people who can answer all those questions to the level of certainty and detail the committee might wish. We are very happy to share everything we know and to take note of areas of research where it could be useful for us to try to learn more about aspects of the sector.

As I said earlier, the expectations on the RTB have grown substantially over recent years. The RTB was originally a dispute resolution body to replace the courts and it had a registration function to generate its own income and data. Now we, along with the entire sector, have moved into much more complex territory. It is difficult for us to be fully definitive about things like how the market works, what would influence the market and the players in different ways and how different policy initiatives might land and be successful, or not be. Our number one priority is to try to create the conditions whereby current landlords and tenants can have as positive an experience as possible.