Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 354: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a deposit protection scheme for private tenants; the communication he has had with the Private Residencies Tenancies Board in relation to this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24924/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. My Department conducted a review of the Act in 2009 with a specific emphasis on whether it best supports the PRTB's key functions and whether legislative amendments would support the achievement of additional operational efficiencies by the PRTB in the delivery of those functions or the broader good working of the private rented sector. The outcomes of the review were announced by my predecessor as Minister of State. In April 2010, and the Government approved the preparation of the Heads of a Bill to deliver on the review's recommendations. Full details in relation to the background of the review and the outcomes are available on my Departments website,www.environ.ie. The drafting of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2011 was approved by Government in July 2011. The General Scheme of the Bill, inter alia, includes the introduction of fines where a landlord is found unjustifiably to have retained all or part of a tenant's security deposit, as a first step to eliminating the problem of deposit retention. I am at present evaluating the Residential Tenancies Act review process recommendations and associated legislative proposals. I have met with the PRTB which has engaged in some research as to the viability of a separate deposit retention scheme pursuant to its function, under section 151(1) of the Act, to provide advice to the Minister concerning policy in relation to the private rented sector. On foot of that meeting, I have asked the PRTB to carry out further research on how best to address the issue of deposit retention. This research will further inform my thinking on this matter.