Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Residential Tenancies Board will be allowed to recruit more adjudicators; the number of adjudicators that will be recruited in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14323/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2019 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The service provided by the RTB is quasi-judicial and all of their mediators, adjudicators and tribunal members have independent decision-making powers, in the same way as judges have within the Court system. To ensure impartiality, transparency and fairness, adjudicators are independently appointed and they undertake their functions in an autonomous capacity.

Section 164 of the Residential Tenancies Acts governs the appointment or engagement of Mediators and Adjudicators. It clearly states it is for the Board and the Board alone to appoint Mediators and Adjudicators. It would be inappropriate for me, as Minister, to be involved in the process or to comment

The Clerk of the Dáil 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 2016 from my Department, the RTB set up a dedicated email address for this purpose. The RTB may be contacted at OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie to establish the extent to which it may hold the information sought.