Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

Before outlining the precise circumstances which have given rise to the need for this legislation, I will clarify an issue raised in the course of yesterday's Dáil debate on the Bill which delayed its arrival in the Seanad yesterday evening. A question was raised concerning the period that would remain in the term of membership of the Private Residential Tenancies Board's dispute resolution committee, DRC, of the persons whose appointments were being regularised by the Bill. This gave rise to the need to check the duration of the period for which the persons concerned had been appointed to the DRC and, in the interests of absolute clarity, to be absolutely sure those appointments had been made for a minimum of three years, as required under section 157(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. It was necessary to check this issue with the PRTB and I was not in a position to have this completed in the short period between the conclusion of the Bill in the Dáil and the scheduled start time for the Bill in the Seanad last night. The PRTB confirmed to the Department late last night that when the persons concerned had been reappointed to the DRC, they were appointed for three years. Therefore, there is no difficulty in regard to compliance with the terms of section 157(3) of the 2004 Act. They will continue to serve as members of the DRC for the remainder of their three-year term, even where this extends beyond their board membership.

I will now turn to the specific reasons for this legislation. Section 159 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 empowers the board of the PRTB to establish a dispute resolution committee, delegate functions to that committee and appoint its members. The members of the DRDC, when required, form the tenancy tribunals which determine tenancy disputes. Section 159 provides that the membership of the committee must contain at least four members of the PRTB's board but also specifies that to be eligible for appointment to the committee any such board member must at the time of appointment to the committee have at least three years remaining in his or her term of office as a board member. Section 159(4) requires the board of the PRTB to consult the Minister before appointing members, including the chairperson, to the committee.

It was brought to the Department's attention by the PRTB in mid-December 2008 that nine of its board members who had been appointed a year earlier to the committee and one further member appointed in January 2007 did not satisfy the three-year rule. On further examination, doubts were also raised regarding the extent of compliance with the consultative requirements of section 159. The effect of this is to raise questions about the constitution of the committee and hence the dispute resolution work carried out under its aegis. In order to ensure the matters involved are regularised urgently, the legislation has been brought forward to validate the appointments to the committee and the associated work undertaken by it and its members.

It is important to stress that the competence and professionalism of these tribunals are not in question. The procedures adopted were robust and proper and the outcomes and judgments were properly reached. Nonetheless, the technical mistake places a question mark against the more than 100 tribunals convened which have contained at least one incorrectly appointed board member. To remove any uncertainty in this regard and in regard to compliance with the consultation requirements of section 159 more generally and, thereby, ensure this tribunal-related work by the PRTB is validated, I have brought this legislation forward. Given the good progress made by the PRTB in recent months in addressing the challenges facing it, it is essential to remove this potential uncertainty. To do otherwise would not serve tenants, landlords or the taxpayer well. The Bill, very simply, validates the appointments to the DRC and the associated work undertaken by the committee and its members. It validates the irregular appointments and deems as valid any acts by the DRC prior to the emergency legislation. It corrects a technical legal error and allows the PRTB to proceed confidently with its essential work.

I emphasise to the House that when the issue regarding DRC appointments was brought to its attention last month, the Department requested the PRTB to urgently commission an external audit to check compliance with the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 with regard to governance and legal structures, appointment of board members and committee members and any other relevant aspects relating to the governance provisions of the Act. This audit was to be undertaken by an appropriate external party with access to legal advice, as necessary. This compliance audit has since been completed and identified no similar issues requiring legislative correction.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 has provided a stable framework for the better operation of the landlord-tenant relationship and, since its establishment in September 2004, the PRTB has achieved notable successes in fulfilling its mandate, including, for instance, large-scale compliance with the tenancy registration requirements. Partly as a consequence of the board's success in ensuring registration compliance and the resulting large workloads arising, it is acknowledged that the processing times for dispute resolutions are not yet optimal. This is owing to a combination of the significant increase in demand in line with expansion of the sector and the quasi-judicial process involved which requires very time consuming work, for instance, the heavy administrative requirements of proceeding with court actions. It is important to note that while the PRTB provides dispute resolution services, less than 1% of all registered tenancies seek to avail of the PRTB's dispute resolution mechanisms. This indicates that a healthy and stable landlord-tenant relationship prevails in the vast majority of tenancies.

In response to the large and ongoing volume of work with which it had to deal, the board of the PRTB requested an additional 14 permanent staff to bring the permanent staffing complement from 26 to 40. This was approved by the Department in 2008 and the additional personnel were recruited during the summer of that year. This raised staffing level will help significantly with the administrative work related to the processing of dispute cases.

Due to the nature and complexity of the Residential Tenancies Act, one element of the board's remit under the Act is to assess the functioning of the PRTB and the Act and put forward suggestions for improvements to the original legislation. This review is ongoing and a number of notable legislative changes to the Act have been proposed to the Department by the board. I hope to take a significant number of these suggestions on board as part of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008. Some relevant amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act were debated in the Seanad late last year. I hope to bring forward a number of other related amendments on Committee stage in the Dáil.

Of particular interest, especially in terms of how to optimise the efficient performance of the PRTB, is a proposal to allow for on-line registration by removing the current requirement to have the signatures of both landlord and tenant on the registration form. This will free up staff who have been working on registrations to assist with the dispute resolution process and enforcement areas. The PRTB has also recently embarked on a number of internal initiatives that do not require legislative changes but which will improve work practices and maximise use of resources. For instance, a system of paper-based adjudications in specific instances has recently been introduced on a pilot basis to fast-track certain cases without the need for an actual hearing. Such an approach has been used in other similar organisations and initial feedback is positive.

An automated document management system will also be introduced as part of the PRTB's recently adopted ICT strategy, the roll-out of which has commenced. This should begin to yield staffing and process efficiencies in the short to medium term.

The Residential Tenancies Act has set the conditions and tone of landlord and tenant relationships and I am intent on maintaining, nurturing and improving the private rental sector in general, in regard to which the PRTB is a pivotal organisation. It has come a long way in the last four years and, while there are sizable challenges facing it, I am confident it has the resources, capacity and imagination to meet these challenges in the years ahead. The Bill corrects an historical and technical oversight by the board and safeguards the effort and time invested by its tribunals. It removes any doubt as to the validity of the dispute resolution committee's work and allows the organisation to focus fully on delivering the best service possible to its clients. I express my gratitude to the Opposition for its co-operation in facilitating the passage of this urgent legislation today and commend the Bill to the House.