Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board

Mr. Tom Dunne:

Deciding whether a notice of termination is valid is a judicial function. It is a matter of policy but I am not sure the State would want to devolve it as a point of law to the board. The way it is done is that if tenants do not think it is valid, they take a case and that goes through the judicial process. We must remember that a notice of termination can be a very final document for tenants going to be evicted from their homes. It is a big issue and it needs to go through some sort of judicial process. It is a big decision rather than just asking an administrative function to tick a box and send it back.