John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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795. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of inspections carried out in the rental sector for each local authority in 2017, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37482/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, set out a series of measures to be introduced to ensure the quality of private rental accommodation by strengthening the applicable standards and improving the inspection and enforcement systems.

On 1 July 2017, updated regulatory standards, the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017, came into effect. These Regulations focus on tenant safety and include new measures covering heating appliances, carbon monoxide and window safety. In August, my Department published guidance to assist and support local authorities in implementing the new Regulations.

All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations and responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations rests with the relevant local authority, previously supported by a dedicated stream of funding provided from a portion of the proceeds of tenancy registration fees, collected by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

Since establishment of the RTB, over €36 million has been paid to local authorities to assist them in the performance of their functions under the Housing Acts, including the inspection of rented accommodation. Over 224,000 inspections were carried out during this period.

The Rental Strategy recognises the need for additional resources to be provided to local authorities to aid increased inspections of properties and ensure greater compliance with the Regulations. Provision has been made for an additional €2.5 million funding in 2018, with the intention of providing further increases each year in the period to 2021 to facilitate a targeted inspection coverage of 25% of rental properties annually. My Department offers a subvention to local authorities to carry out inspection of properties under the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations with funding provided on the basis of €100 per inspection carried out and €50 per follow-up inspection that achieves compliance.

A breakdown of the number of inspections carried out and payments made to each Local Authority in 2017 can be found on my Department's website at the following link:

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