Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the figures from the RTB on the number or percentage of private rental tenancies that are fixed term agreements and the number that are Part 4 tenancy agreements. [40496/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. I have no function in relation to the operational matters of the Board. The Act provides that landlords in the sector must apply to register the tenancy of a dwelling with the RTB within one month of the commencement of the tenancy. There are currently over 325,500 tenancies registered with the RTB, comprising over 174,500 landlords and over 516,500 tenants.

Security of tenure under the 2004 Act is based on rolling four-year tenancy cycles. Where a tenant has been in occupation of a dwelling for a continuous period of 6 months and no notice of termination has been served in respect of that tenancy before the expiry of the period of 6 months, the tenancy is established for the remainder of the four-year period. This is referred to in the Act as a ‘Part 4’ tenancy. Landlords and tenants may not contract out of any of the provisions of Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act and no lease, tenancy agreement, contract or other agreement may operate to vary or modify the provisions of Part 4 of the Act.

The entitlement to a four-year tenancy is a minimum entitlement for tenants after 6 months. This does not prevent landlords providing for longer fixed-term tenancies should they wish to do so and there is nothing in the Act to prevent a landlord providing a tenant with more beneficial rights generally than those that are provided for in the Act. Where a fixed-term tenancy continues for more than 6 months then, subject to limited exceptions, the tenant acquires the right to a Part 4 tenancy in addition to any rights they have under their fixed tenancy agreement.

My Department does not hold or collate the data in relation to the number of tenancies that are subject to fixed-term agreements, Part 4 agreements or both. The Clerk of Dáil Éireann has requested that arrangements be put in place to facilitate the provision of information by State Bodies to members of the Oireachtas. Following the issue of Circular LG (P) 05/16 on 20 September from my Department, the RTB have set up a dedicated email address for this purpose at .