Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the rights of tenants under the rent a room scheme in view of the fact it appears there are no procedures in place to protect the tenant. [3407/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants.

The Act applies to every dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy, subject to a limited number of exceptions. The dwellings to which the Act does not apply are set out in section 3(2) of the Act, and include for example-

- a dwelling that is used wholly or partly for the purpose of carrying on a business;

- a dwelling within which the landlord also resides;

- a dwelling the subject of a tenancy the term of which is over 35 years.

In these cases the RTB does not have any function in relation to the agreements or arrangements on which they are based.

In circumstances where it is unclear as to whether a dwelling is the subject of a tenancy to which the Act applies, the RTB can adjudicate on the question and has done so in the past. Where it finds that a tenancy is unregistered due to the landlord’s wrongful claim that the Act does not apply to the dwelling, the RTB can serve a notice requiring registration and failure to comply is an offence.

Where the owner of a dwelling, residing in that dwelling, lets a room, that letting is not considered to be a tenancy within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act.