Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the fact that in 2006 Cork County Council inspected 0.02% of registered dwellings and Donegal County Council inspected 88% of registered dwellings. [14446/08]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of houses registered in the Cork City Council local authority area in the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 was 987, 5014, and 8543; the number of houses inspected in those years was 730, 794, and 780; the quantum of funding allocated to Cork City Council in regard to accommodation standards was €93,957 in 2005, €136,019 in 2006 and €91,319 in the first tranche of funding in 2007; and if in view of the significant increase in the number of registrations he is satisfied with the level of inspection and that the funding allocated was being applied appropriately. [14447/08]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if it is his expectation that local authorities should inspect registered dwellings annually, once in four years, or on change of tenancy. [14445/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 84, 103 and 111 together.

Standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Failure to do so is an offence, subject, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000, or a term of six months in prison or both and €250 for each day of a continuing offence. Responsibility for enforcing the regulations rests with the relevant local authority, supported by a dedicated stream of funding allocated by my Department. Details of the inspections of private rented accommodation carried out, the dwellings inspected which did not meet the statutory standards and prosecutions initiated up to 2006 are included in my Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. Similar information in respect of 2007 is not yet available.

The system of funding local authority inspection activity is currently in a stage of transition, from one based solely on numbers of tenancy registrations to one based more on inspection performance. Consequently, where a particular authority's inspection activity is low relative to others, this is reflected in reduced allocations. For 2007, a first tranche (€1.5m) of funding issued to local authorities in October 2007, based on the number of registered tenancies and inspection targets for 2007, as reported by local authorities. The second tranche (€1.5m) of this funding will issue shortly to local authorities, based on their inspection outturns for 2007.

It is a matter for each individual local authority to decide on the specific details of its inspection arrangements. However, in discharging their responsibilities in relation to the private rented sector, authorities should have regard to the report — Good Practice Guidelines for Local Authorities on Standards in the Private Rented Sector: Strategic Planning, Effective Enforcement — published by the Centre for Housing Research in November 2007, which makes a range of recommendations on matters relevant to inspection procedures such as identifying and targeting inspection requirements. I am confident that the move towards more performance-related funding has already led to more active inspections regimes and will continue to do so in the period ahead. I am also encouraged by the preliminary inspections figures for 2007 which I am confident will, once finalised, show a continuing and substantial increase in inspections by local authorities.