Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 412: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the ongoing difficulties with dispute resolution in the Private Residential Tenancies Board (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10116/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. In February 2009 I announced my intention to review the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 under which the PRTB operates. I announced the preliminary results of this review, in November 2009 including recommendations in a number of key areas, with an overall emphasis on streamlining and simplifying the Act, reducing delays and achieving additional operational efficiencies by the PRTB in the delivery of its functions. While a range of issues still remain to be considered, I intend to initiate comprehensive amending legislation within the next 12 months. Full details in relation to the background to the review, the associated terms of reference and the preliminary results of the review are available on my Department's website, www.environ.ie.

Among the main issues that I hope to address in the amending legislation are -

· A statutory objective of 6 months to be set for the issuing of determination orders arising out of dispute resolution applications,

· The Board of the PRTB to be reduced from 15 to 12 members,

· The introduction of fixed fines where deposits are illegally retained by landlords,

· Measures to address non-payment of rent by tenants during a dispute process, in particular to introduce scope for the legal termination of such a tenancy,

· The separation of the governance and quasi-judicial functions of the Board,

· The inclusion within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act of segments of the voluntary and co-operative housing sector that most closely parallel the current remit of the Board.