Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, we have just put new regulations in place in this area and there are time commitments we have committed to in the rental strategy. We cannot simply ramp up the level of inspections overnight because, as the Deputy said, in some local authorities either the systems or the staff simply are not in place. We are trying to put a realistic timeframe in place whereby we can put systems, people and management in place to make sure we get gradually improving figures year on year in order that, by 2021, each local authority will be meeting the target of inspecting one quarter of the rental properties in its area in a year. We are a long way from that now. The averages are in the low single figures in most local authority areas so we need to ramp up capacity. There is a whole series of areas where we currently have a ramping up of capacity in terms of construction, the planning system and the engineering capacity within local authorities because a lot more money is being spent now than was the case until a few years ago. This is part of the wider process. The regulations are now in place and we will put the management systems in place to enforce them.

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