Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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567. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he intends to enact the deposit retention scheme passed into law in 2015. [1990/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provided for, among other things, the establishment of a tenancy deposit protection scheme to be operated by the Residential Tenancies Board. However, there have been significant changes in the rental market since the 2015 scheme was first envisaged and designed. For example, the 2015 scheme was intended to be financed by the interest payable on deposits lodged; this is no longer viable, given the current financial market conditions.

The Programme for Government and Housing for All – a new Housing Plan for Ireland includes an action to examine the creation of a system of holding rental deposits, informed by international experience, by Q2 2023 and my Department is currently considering how best to achieve this.

Section 7 of the Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 inserts a new section 19B into the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which applies to tenancies created on or after 9 August 2021, to restrict the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy to no more than the equivalent of 2 months’ rent (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed 1 month’s rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed 1 month’s rent). A restriction of the equivalent of 1 month’s rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy. These measures are intended to greatly reduce any financial exposure to tenants, on foot of paying such restricted upfront payments.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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568. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a progress report on the target for 25% of private rental tenancies to be inspected annually under the commitment outlined in Housing for All will be provided; the percentage of private rental properties that were inspected in 2021; and the expectation for 2022. [1992/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light and safety of gas, oil and electrical supplies. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations rests with the relevant local authority.

Housing for All sets a target for the inspection of rental properties, which is 25% of all private residential tenancies. A total of €10 million in Exchequer funding is being made available to local authorities this year to help them meet their targets.

Full-year rental inspection data is routinely published on an annual basis on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/

Data in respect of 2021 has been requested by my Department from the local authorities. It will be processed and made available online shortly. It is of course likely that the number of inspections carried out in 2021 will reflect the fact that, in accordance with public health guidelines, and in order to protect tenants, landlords and inspectors, inspections were not permitted for a prolonged period in 2021. 

Since Housing for All was launched in September 2021, officials in my Department have met separately at a senior level with all 31 local authorities to discuss their local authority’s inspection performance to date and the effort required to reach their Housing for All target in 2022.

My officials are now in the process of writing to all 31 local authority Chief Executives advising of the precise 2022 rental inspections target for their local authority areas, based on Residential Tenancy Board tenancy data, and asking them to submit detailed implementation plans, outlining how they intend to achieve their targets. My Department will work closely throughout the year with the sector to support the achievement of these targets.