David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 408: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress made to date in the drafting of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill which aims to reduce the delays in the Private Residential Tenancies Board by streamlining and simplifying the Residential Tenancies Act 2004; if it is still his intention to amalgamate the PRTB and the rent tribunal through this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15813/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector.

My Department conducted a review of the Act in 2009 with a specific emphasis on whether the Act best supports the PRTB's key functions and on whether legislative amendments would support either 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 in April 2010 and the drafting of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2011 was approved by Government in July 2011. The Bill is currently in preparation by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in collaboration with my Department and I hope to publish the Bill before the end of 2012.

The administrative merger of the Rent Tribunal and the PRTB took effect on 1 October 2009 and since then the PRTB has provided administrative support services to the Rent Tribunal which is now located at the offices of the PRTB at O'Connell Bridge House, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2. It is intended to give formal legislative effect to the merger in the context of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2011.