Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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195. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide information on resources allocated to the Property Services Regulatory Authority; the timeline in which a person should expect a complaint submitted to the PRSA to be adjudicated upon; if his attention has been drawn to any delays in addressing complaints; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52431/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The budget provision allocated to the Property Services Regulatory Authority in 2013 is €848,000.

In relation to staff, there are currently over ten full time equivalent posts assigned to the PSRA's Headquarters in Navan. In both 2012 and 2013, these resources were supplemented by seven temporary clerical officers working in the Navan offices for up to three months to deal with the now annual issuance and renewal of licences in the sectors regulated by the Authority. I understand my Department and the Authority will be looking to provide a similar seasonal increase to the PSRA's resources in 2014.

My Department, the Authority and the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI) agreed in 2012, to allow for the operation of the first year of registration and licencing, that resources of the PRAI based in Roscommon were made available to the PSRA on a loan basis so that the once-off surge in activity associated with this phase of the PSRA's activities could be managed effectively within the constraints on public service numbers.

My Department is in receipt of a detailed business case from the PSRA setting out its long term resource requirements and I understand my Department has indicated its commitment to providing the appropriate and necessary resources either directly or on a contracted basis having regard, in particular, to pressures on public service staff numbers and competing demands. I am advised that in the current quarter, a Dublin based office has been established through the redeployment of staff from elsewhere in the Department and by year end this office will have over five full time equivalents. In addition to this, I am further advised that through redeployments and transfers from within the Department and Justice Group, it is expected that the Navan office will receive a further three staff members. Therefore, including the assignments proposed, the PSRA staff allocation is expected to grow from just over ten full-time equivalents earlier this year to almost nineteen full time equivalents by early next year.

A key role of the Authority is to set and enforce standards in the provision of property services by auctioneers, letting agents and property management agents and to provide redress mechanisms for consumers of those services. Under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, the Authority is empowered to investigate complaints made against property service providers and to initiate investigations for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the law. Any person may make a complaint, in writing, to the Authority against a property service provider in relation to the provision of a property service provider in the course of providing a property service.

Having regard to the staffing resources available, there has been for some time a backlog in the handling of complaints by the Authority and I am advised that to date the Authority has received of the order of 330 complaints. With the introduction of additional staff resources to the Authority during November, I understand that there has been a specific focus on addressing complaints. With further staff resources to be allocated to the Authority shortly, this should allow for further work in this regard. Notwithstanding this, the Authority has advised that it is not possible to indicate a specific timeframe for the investigation of any individual complaint, since the length of time it take to investigate a complaint will be dependent on the specific circumstances of each case.