Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 871: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the way in which he intends to strengthen the ability of the Private Residential Tenancies Board to effectively enforce registration of private properties, in view of the fact that most of the enforcement notices sent by the Private Residential Tenancies Board to over 250 houses in Tallaght have effectively been ignored. [10443/06]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 874: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides for fines for landlords for incomplete and late information in cases where it is the tenants' responsibility to provide such information, for example in the provision of PPS numbers; if the Private Residential Tenancies Board has been instructed to operate a discretion in that regard; if he intends to amend the Act to provide for an appeals process in such instances where fines are unjustly levied; if he intends to amend the Act to provide for tenants to be fined in such instances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10483/06]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 875: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will amend the registration charges regime under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 in order that a person with 20 apartments under one roof pays a €300 registration charge while a person with 20 houses would pay €1,400, in view of the fact that apartments are generally in urban areas and command premier rental prices in comparison to houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10484/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 871, 874 and 875 together.

Non-compliance with the tenancy registration requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 is a criminal offence. Enforcement of the registration provisions, including prosecution, where appropriate, is the statutory responsibility of the Private Residential Tenancies Board. I am not aware that deficiencies are evident in powers available to the board in that regard. The duties of the Private Residential Tenancies Board include that of reviewing the operation of the Act and making recommendations to the Minister for amendments, as appropriate. I will consider any such recommendations as well as any relevant suggestions from other sources that may be received, following an adequate period of experience of the operation of the legislation. There are no proposals to amend the registration fee provisions in the Residential Tenancies Act.

The composite fee referred to in the question is available to a landlord registering a number of tenancies within a single building within the applicable time limit. In practice this concession is available only in the immediate aftermath of the coming into operation of Part 7 of the 2004 Act or on first letting of the dwellings within a building. Once the first year has elapsed, the composite fee will not be applicable unless all of the tenants of the dwellings remain permanently in occupation for each four-year tenancy cycle or they all leave at the one time and all the replacement tenancies commence within a period of less than one month.

The Residential Tenancies Act does not impose any fines on landlords who provide incomplete information in their registration applications but a double fee applies for late registration, that is, after the tenancy has existed for more than one month, and the PRTB has no discretion in this regard. However, I understand that if an incomplete application is received by the PRTB within the specified time limit, it will return the form to the landlord to insert the missing data. Provided this is completed and returned to the board, payment of the late fee will not be required in those circumstances.

The statutory obligations applying to tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act require that no act or omission on their part should cause landlords to be in breach of their statutory requirements. Failure to provide the necessary registration data or to sign the registration application form are grounds for the termination of the tenancy by the landlord. The double fee encourages voluntary compliance by landlords with the registration requirement, as also does the fact that access to the PRTB's dispute resolution service is not available to landlords of unregistered tenancies. Compliance generally will, I expect, also be facilitated by the linkage in the 2006 Finance Act between registration and eligibility for deductibility of interest.