Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I wish to indicate Sinn Féin's support for this legislation. As other speakers have noted, there is a significant variation in the rights and regulations governing tenancies in the rental sector. For example, three tenants living beside each other in identical houses could comprise a local authority tenant, a housing association tenant and a private rental tenant.

The private rental tenant would have, in some respects, greater protection under the law than the tenant in the social housing sector, for example. All three tenants would have different rules and procedures for the most basic aspects of the tenancies, which does not make sense. The law governing tenants and landlords should be the same irrespective of whether a tenancy is private, with a housing association or with a council. It is amazing that there are no regulations outlining the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in social rented housing.

Since the passing of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, Sinn Féin has been among many voices calling for the uniform application of landlord and tenant regulation right across the rental sector, including social and private aspects. It does not make sense for tenants to have one set of rights while living in the private sector but another while living in local authority or housing association properties. I welcome the fact that the Bill before us brings together thousands of housing association tenancies into the regulatory code, although as I mentioned, I am disappointed that logic has not been followed to include council tenancies as well. I am interested, as Senator Hayden mentioned, in how this could be introduced, and in the meantime we will continue with two different types of protection. That is without justification.

The Minister of State and my colleague in the Dáil, Deputy Ellis, mentioned the deposit retention scheme and I look forward to amendments on Committee Stage in this respect. We all know the arguments regarding the retention scheme are very strong, and although the majority of landlords and tenants have no problems when ending a tenancy and returning a deposit, a significant number of cases may see a dispute. A failure by some landlords to return deposits may, in this day and age, leave a family homeless because of an inability to secure new accommodation without a deposit. Deposits are not cheap and people can struggle, especially if they are looking for a family home because they have small children. Trying to get the money together can be quite difficult. The issue takes much of the Private Residential Tenancies Board's time and resources, and they could be used to better effect. The Bill has many positive developments, such as changing the operation of the dispute resolution process, which will enable speedier resolutions. It will free up the working of the tenancies board.

There is an issue with the resourcing of a reformed residential tenancies board. There is an increasing reliance on the private rental sector not only among renters but also through the different housing schemes of the State, including rental accommodation long-term leasing schemes. The workload of the Private Residential Tenancies Board is increasing but the self-financing regime may be hampering its ability to fulfil statutory obligations. Perhaps the issue should be examined and the board should find new ways to ensure landlords and tenants get the best protection from this Bill.

We welcome the legislation and support it but we look forward to seeing the amendments relating to the deposit retention scheme.