Ms Louise Loughlin:

That is what we have been looking at. Two things are going on at the same time. We stood up that early intervention service, which is what we call it. At the same time, we also have what is being called default mediation, which is to divert people towards mediation services when they contact us. This is on the basis that mediation is quicker, free, less formal and confidential. However, we need to do some refinement of that because some people are going into mediation when they may be more appropriate for adjudication. That model has been delivered for a period and, as is natural when delivering any public service, we must review how effective it is. We are in the process of looking at that as well. That will lead us to looking at some cases that may be more appropriate for adjudication, rather than necessarily going down the mediation route. It also means that we can pull things out of the queue. We are thinking of the end-to-end process. As Mr. Keegan stated, the numbers are increasing all the time and multiple people are coming to the service looking for mediation or adjudication. If we can talk to the parties at the earliest possible stage and ascertain if they realistically need to proceed to a full hearing at that earliest possible point, not only may those parties possibly get a resolution, it will also free up slots for others.

It is also worthwhile to note that even the fact that people have lodged an application with the RTB can lead to resolutions. It actually can lead to landlords and tenants engaging with each other directly and resolving their disputes without going to full hearings, whether that is in the context of mediation or adjudication. The number of applications do reduce in terms of those that actually proceed through the entire process. There are multiple reasons for them to fall off during that time. Again, this is natural enough, because sometimes it is just the shove that people need to actually resolve their cases. There are quite a few things going on there. We are looking at examining it all very carefully while at the same time delivering business as usual with an increased level of demand.

The early intervention is the way forward with this in terms of building out that capacity within the organisation. You have to be careful because people have a right to go to the quasi-judicial forum. It is absolutely people's right under the Act to have a case heard in that way. Our guys who deliver the service have said that the engagement from the public is really positive. We pick up the phone to them, our staff ring them, and sometimes there has to be a few emails or whatever backwards and forwards just to get into it. People may seek a bit of time to think about whether they want to proceed, and then the case can resolve.