Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 384 to 386, inclusive, together.

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, fire safety and the 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. 

The number of inspections undertaken in 2020 and in 2021 to the end of Q3 are set out in the table below:

Local authority data in respect of Q4 2021 is currently being collated and verified by my Department but indications are that virtual inspections only accounted for circa 5% of all inspections undertaken in that period.

Under this Government’s housing plan - Housing for All - targets for the inspection of rental properties will be set at 25% of all private residential tenancies, as soon as Covid-19 public health restrictions permit. No target is set specifically for virtual inspections and local authorities have the discretion to use whichever inspection type they deem most appropriate to a situation.

Pandemic restrictions greatly impacted on inspection activity since March 2020. The County and City Management Association’s (CCMA) Local Authority Services Frameworks for Future Covid-19 Pandemic Response did not permit on-site rental inspections for long periods in 2020 and 2021. This was in order to protect tenants, landlords and inspectors. Even when restrictions were relaxed there was still a reluctance on the part of some tenants to allow authorised inspectors access their homes. Inspections have been and continue to be frustrated by some tenants needing to self-isolate due to having Covid-19 or being a close contact.

In response some local authorities piloted virtual inspections which my Department supported with Exchequer funding. Dublin City Council led this initiative and commenced virtual inspections in May 2020. My Department incorporated and standardised the approach taken countrywide into a pilot programme, requesting business cases from participating local authorities to ensure that processes are suitably robust and comprehensive.

The Department deems a virtual inspection to have been carried out when a decision is made on whether or not a dwelling is compliant with the Regulations, based on a review of the:

- landlord’s completed self-assessment checklist

- photographic/video evidence provided

- local authority’s engagement with the tenant in respect of any non-compliance issues they may be aware of and whether or not they can confirm if the landlord’s checklist answers are correct.

It is a key component of the virtual inspection model that local authorities reserve the right to conduct a physical on-site inspection when it is safe to do so and landlords were advised accordingly. Many rented dwellings have been subsequently re-inspected physically, since pandemic restrictions have eased.

As set down in Housing for All  I believe that the potential offered by a virtual inspection approach needs to be fully explored. This is being done through an ongoing process of evaluation.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I condemn in the strongest terms any instances where properties are offered for rent in return for sexual acts.

This Government is totally committed to preventing and addressing sexual abuse and gender-based violence in all its forms. I have sought and received advice from the Attorney General in relation to this matter, which I am currently considering in consultation with my colleague the Minister for Justice.

It is a complex area and we need to look at all of the potential elements involved. The correct approach to dealing with this issue needs to be carefully considered and both my Department and the Department of Justice are working together on appropriate options to do so. This includes assessing whether changes may be required to Residential Tenancies legislation or through the introduction of criminal charges.

This is utterly unacceptable behaviour which attempts to prey on the vulnerability of people seeking accommodation and all possible avenues to address it will be considered.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code, in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” (RPZs), were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 which came into effect on 1 July 2019.

Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant work on the implementation and enforcement of the Regulations has been undertaken by planning authorities since they came into effect.

The Government's new housing plan, Housing for All, contains a specific action (Action 20.4) - to "develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need". Minister O’Brien has engaged with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media to progress this action, and a number of meetings have been held between officials of the two Departments and with Fáilte Ireland, and further engagement is expected to take place in the near future.

Funding was allocated in Budget 2022 to Fáilte Ireland which has been tasked with the design and implementation of a new short term lettings registration system. The agency is currently recruiting staff to work on this project. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is also presently scoping out the legislative provisions that will be required to underpin the new registration system with a view to these provisions being enacted in 2022.