Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 188: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if it is a condition of receiving rent supplement that the tenancy be registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board, and that the non-principal private residence charge has been paid on the rented property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40386/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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It is not a requirement of the rent supplement scheme that the landlord has paid the non-principal private residence charge on the property or that landlords must be registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) before a rent supplement is paid to a tenant. The Department provides details of all current rent supplement recipients and landlords to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government on a quarterly basis, with a view to assisting local authorities with a range of housing issues, including the transfer of rent supplement recipients to the rental accommodation scheme and inspections of standards for private rented houses.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, landlords are legally obliged to register tenancies with the PRTB. The Department is also working closely 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 new 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 tenancies with the PRTB within one month from the start date of the 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 supplement 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.