Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the average length of time elapsed from when an application for dispute resolution is lodged with the Private Residential Tenancies Board to the case being heard by an adjudicator; the average cost per adjudication; if he will consider the introduction under the Residential Tenancies Act of a system whereby deposits are retained for safekeeping by the PRTB in view of the fact that 51% of disputes relate to the return of deposits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44488/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I have no function in operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), as it is an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. However, dispute resolution statistics are published as part of the annual report of the PRTB and are available on their website at www.prtb.ie

In November 2009 I announced the preliminary outcomes of my review of the Residential Tenancies Act which regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private residential rented sector. Among those outcomes is a commitment to introduce fixed fines where deposits are found to have been illegally retained and to consider the issue in more detail.

The PRTB commissioned research on the viability of a separate deposit retention scheme in Ireland pursuant to its function, under section 151(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, to provide advice to the Minister concerning policy in relation to the private rented sector. On foot of this research, the Board endorsed my proposal to introduce fixed fines as outlined above and also decided not to recommend the establishment of a deposit retention scheme.

My Department has considered a number of critical issues in this area, and I have decided that it is prudent to proceed at present with the fixed penalty proposal but not with a wider deposit retention scheme. It is my belief that the fixed penalty model will act as a significant deterrent for landlords who might otherwise consider retaining a deposit without any legitimate grounds for so doing. I believe that this initiative will, over time, greatly reduce the current problem of deposit retention.

It is my intention to have the General Scheme of a Bill amending the Residential Tenancies Act before the Government very shortly.