Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her plans to make it a condition of the rent supplement scheme that the property which is the subject of the supplementary payment has been registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board by the landlord. [32707/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, landlords are legally obliged to register tenancies with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). The Department is working with the PRTB to ensure that all tenancies where rent supplement is in payment are registered with the PRTB. To that end, the Department provides details of rent supplement payments to the PRTB to enable them identify tenancies that are not registered and to take any follow-up action necessary.

Landlords are legally obliged to register new tenancies with the PRTB within one month from the start date of a tenancy or at a later date on payment of an increased fee. For this reason, it is not practicable for the Department to insist that a tenancy be registered with the PRTB before payment of rent supplement can be made. There are also instances where a rent supplemented tenancy need not be registered with the PRTB, for example, in the case of renting a room in a house or where a premises is owner occupied.

Rent supplemented tenancies which are liable for registration with the PRTB, should be so registered. In that regard, the close working arrangements which the Department has with the PRTB should ensure that over time, all tenancies that come with the area of rent supplementation comply with the statutory system of tenancy regulation and safeguards.