Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average fee charged by auctioneers on the sale of residential homes in each of the years 2013 and to date in 2017; if work has been done to analyse the cost of auctioneer fees; her views on whether there is an issue with the level of fees being charged; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26398/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the Property Services Regulatory Authority was established on 3 April 2012 under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 to control, supervise and regulate Property Services Providers, i.e. Auctioneers/Estate Agents, Letting Agents and Management Agents.

The Authority, which is independent in the performance of its functions, operates a comprehensive licensing system in respect of all Property Services Providers (PSPs), administers a system of investigation and adjudication of complaints against PSPs and maintains three public registers in relation to Licensed Property Services Providers, Property Sales Prices and Commercial Leases.

The statutory functions of the Authority do not extend to the regulation of fees charged by auctioneers for services provided to their clients, and I am advised by the Authority that it does not currently, nor does it have any plans to collect or analyse data in this regard. As Minister for Justice and Equality I am not aware of any particular difficulty with the level of fees currently being charged by licensed Property Services Providers. The rate of fees payable would, however, be a matter for agreement between the client and the licensee.