Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1589. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a deposit protection scheme as committed to in the programme for Government to help address the issue of tenants' deposits being unfairly retained by landlords and so provide additional protection to tenants. [34520/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Programme for Governmentincludes a commitment to establish a tenancy deposit protection scheme. On foot of this commitment the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) commissioned research on such a scheme and reported back to my Department with recommendations in that regard. The subsequent report assessed a number of different options for delivery of a scheme ranging from one where all elements are delivered by the PRTB to one where all elements are outsourced to a private operator. The report examined each option in terms of both insurance and custodial type schemes.

In a custodial scheme, tenancy deposits are transferred to the scheme for the duration of the tenancy. They are then repaid by the scheme operator following agreement between the landlord and tenant or following the outcome of a dispute resolution process in cases where there is no agreement. The interest from the funds deposited pays for the administration of the scheme and there is no fee to either the landlord or tenant. In an insurance-based scheme, the landlord pays a premium to insure the risk of the deposit not being returned but retains the deposit. In the event of a dispute, the landlord lodges the total of the deposit with the scheme and it is repaid to either the landlord or the tenant at the conclusion of a dispute resolution process.

All of the options presented in the report were considered in order to determine how to offer the greatest protection to tenants at least cost to the Exchequer and Government approval was secured for the establishment of a tenancy deposit scheme based on a custodial model. It is my intention to introduce the legislative amendments in relation to the scheme at Committee Stage of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 in the Seanad.