Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for the question.

Section 134 of the Residential Tenancies Act requires a landlord to apply to the RTB to register a tenancy of a dwelling within one month of its commencement and, thereafter, within one month of each anniversary of its commencement date. All private landlords, approved housing bodies and providers of student-specific accommodation are required to register such tenancies.

Subsection 136(b) of the RTA requires that when a landlord registers a tenancy with the RTB, the name, the address at which the landlord ordinarily resides, any other address for correspondence the landlord may wish to provide, the landlord's personal public service number, PPSN, and, where the application is made by his or her authorised agent, the name, address for correspondence and PPSN of the agent must be provided as part of the application process.

The RTB has registration enforcement powers to pursue landlords who have not complied with the obligation to register their tenancies and a dedicated investigations and sanctions unit to investigate certain potential breaches of rental law by landlords referred to in the context of proper conduct under Schedule 2 to the Residential Tenancies Act, one of which is failure to register a tenancy with the RTB. Failure to register a tenancy is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to €4,000 or up to six months in prison.

The RTB is gaining information from a focused review it conducted, members of the public, its own investigations and sanctions unit and the Department of Social Protection, with which the RTB shares a significant amount of data. Finally, in respect of action 2.5 in Housing for All, Revenue will share data with the RTB in order to see instances of non-compliance where landlords may not have registered. The law is very strong in respect of the consequences for those who are convicted.

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