Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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51. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he plans to take to deal with the widespread breaching of rent increases in rent pressure zones; and if his Department is independently investigating such breeches or monitoring the levels of rent increases in these zones. [39091/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In April 2018, the Government approved the priority drafting of a new Bill to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2016 to enhance the powers of the RTB to protect both tenants and landlords in the residential rental sector, particularly with regard to enforcement of the annual rent increase limit in Rent Pressure Zones.

This Bill's provisions are intended to strengthen further the effectiveness of the rent setting and rent review laws by empowering the RTB to investigate any contravention of the law around rent increase limits (4% per annum) in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) and to take enforcement action, if necessary. The provisions involved include power for the imposition of sanctions on landlords in breach of the legal requirements and power for the RTB to investigate without the need for a complaint to be made.

My Department is working closely with the RTB to appropriately resource and develop its capacity to implement tenancy law. The proposed new powers for the RTB are a crucial first step in expanding its overall role and function as part of a multi-annual change management programme to proactively enforce tenancy law. The RTB publishes its quarterly Rent Index and advises my Department on the residential rental market on a continuous basis which informs policy development in this area.

My Department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in the drafting of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill and I hope to bring the Bill to Government in the coming weeks for approval to publish.