Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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57. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the plans, if any, that he has to change the legislation establishing the private Residential Tenancies Board to set out a legal requirement for the organisation to address its practice of failing to respond to legitimate queries regarding the registration and re-registration of properties by landlords; his views on whether it is acceptable that a public organisation should act in such a manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55732/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The operation of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022, the residential rental market and the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) are kept under constant review by my Department to ensure that the legislation is fit for purpose. I have no plans to provide for a legal requirement, as proposed in the Question.

The RTB was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. Accordingly, the implementation of the new tenancy management system that registers tenancies annually is an operational matter for the RTB.

Since 4 April 2022,  landlords are required under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 to register their tenancies with the RTB every year, within one month of the anniversary of when the tenancy began.  This applies to both new and existing tenancies. As before, landlords continue to be required to register a tenancy within one month of its commencement.

Although many landlords and agents have successfully registered their tenancies on the new RTB tenancy registration system, I have been made aware that some landlord and agent customers are encountering issues with the system. The RTB has assured my Department that it is working collaboratively and constructively with the sector to assist anyone experiencing difficulties.

The RTB has recently almost doubled the staffing in its outsourced call centre to deal with these issues and has been working hard to find the right balance between ensuring that contracted staff are adequately trained and capable of assisting customers with their queries, ranging from linking tenancies, verifying accounts, and data-inputting paper applications.

Following recommendations in the RTB Workforce Plan (2018 – 2021) and engagement with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the RTB received sanction for significant additional staff over the past three years and my Department will continue to work with the RTB to ensure it is sufficiently resourced to deliver on its expanded mandate, including any specific requests with regard to annual registration. To this end, additional funding of €2m will be provided to the RTB for 2023, bringing its total allocation to €13.03m.