Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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41. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of queries and complaints made by landlords and tenants to the Residential Tenancies Board (details supplied); the average wait time for a response to the relevant queries in the last nine months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28437/20]

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. One of the functions of the Residential Tenancies Board is to deal with complaints made by tenants in regard to the behaviour of landlords and complaints made by landlords in regard to the behaviour of tenants. Given the obvious importance of having such disputes and complaints dealt with swiftly, can the Minister outline the number of queries and complaints made by landlords and tenants to the Residential Tenancies Board, and the average wait time for a response to the relevant queries in the last nine months?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We have time for a very brief response.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Murphy for her question.

The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2020 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The service provided by the RTB is quasi-judicial and all of their mediators, adjudicators and tribunal members have independent decision-making powers, in the same way as judges have within the court system. To ensure impartiality, transparency and fairness, adjudicators are independently appointed and they undertake their functions in an autonomous capacity.

In 2019 the RTB received 6,185 applications for dispute resolution, of which 3,515, or 57%, were made by tenants and 2,539, or 41%, were made by landlords and 131, or 2%, by third parties. The average processing time for an adjudication in 2019 was 16 weeks, with 60% of adjudications closed within 12 weeks. The average processing time for mediations was 12 weeks, with 77% closed in eight weeks.

For quarter 1 and quarter 2 of 2020, the RTB received 2,435 applications for dispute resolution, of which 1,415, or 58%, were submitted by tenants, 947, or 39%, were submitted by landlords and 73, or 3%, were submitted by third parties. The average processing times for quarter 1 and quarter 2 are not available at this point in time. Processing of cases was impacted by the pandemic lockdown in March, with all staff working from home and consequently it is expected that timelines will be impacted by this.