Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 422: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of rental properties inspected for compliance with minimum legal standards in 2009 by local authority area; the number of properties that failed to meet these standards by local authority area. [37216/10]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 423: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of properties that were fined for failing to meet minimum legal standards in 2009 by local authority area and the total value of these fines. [37217/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 422 and 423 together.

Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, 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. Responsibility for enforcing the regulations rests with the relevant local authority, supported by a dedicated stream of funding allocated by my Department.

This funding increased significantly between 2005 and 2009, rising from €1.5m to €4m. For 2010 I have allocated a total sum of €5.6m to housing authorities for the purpose of carrying out their functions under the Housing Acts in relation to rented accommodation. This is an increase of €1.6m on the amount allocated for this purpose in 2009 and will bring total funding for this purpose since 2004 to over €20m. Funding for 2010 will be paid using a combined methodology based on the number of inspections carried out by each housing authority and on additional funding being provided for once-off strategically-planned programmes of inspection which may be carried out by housing authorities in addition to their usual inspection activity.

In general, local authorities have significantly expanded their inspection activity in recent years with the number of inspections more than doubling – from 6,815 to 17,202 - in the period 2005 to 2008. 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 2008 on a county/city basis 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.

Work is underway on finalising the 2009 data which will be published later this year; however, preliminary figures indicate a further year on year increase in the number of inspections carried out of approximately 15%, with over 19,800 inspections completed in 2009. This further significant increase reflects the positive impact of the overall Action Programme on Standards, including increased funding, introduced on foot of a commitment in the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement, and progress with the implementation of the Rental Accommodation Scheme. The preliminary figures also indicate that of the 19,800 dwellings inspected in 2009, 4,306 did not meet the minimum standards and 3 prosecutions were initiated by local authorities. Information is not available to my Department on the amount of money raised to date from fines imposed in 2009.

It is a matter for each individual local authority to decide the specific details of its enforcement strategy and inspection arrangements. However, in discharging their responsibilities in relation to the rental sector, authorities have been asked to have regard to the 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 relevant issues, including targeting inspection activities.

Following the enactment of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, a comprehensive new sanctions regime is available to local authorities and fines for non-compliance with the Regulations have been significantly increased; the maximum fine has increased from €3,000 to €5,000 and the fine for each day of a continuing offence has increased from €250 to €400. However, a report published by the Centre for Housing Research in November 2007 points out that landlords' responsiveness to notices of non-compliance issued by local authorities has ensured that the need to prosecute is relatively low. The report also concludes that the low volume of cases taken each year suggests that most examples of non-compliance are on a relatively minor scale.