Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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617. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider providing legislation to prevent landlords or letting agents charging tenants for references, as is in place in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14158/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government - 'Our Shared Future', commits to improve the security of tenure for tenants, through legislating for tenancies of indefinite duration, increasing Residential Tenancies Board enforcement and examining incentives for long-term leasing.

Proposals for further amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts are currently being developed, for inclusion in the General Scheme of the Housing and Residential Tenancies Bill which is expected to be submitted for Government approval in the coming months for approval to proceed to legal drafting. It is expected that the Bill will be enacted by the end of 2021. The matter raised will be considered in this context.

The Property Services Regulatory Authority was established under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, which falls within the remit of the Department of Justice. This Authority is responsible for the control and supervision of the providers of property services (including letting agents), and is empowered to cause any complaints against those providers to be investigated and to adjudicate on any such complaints.