Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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298. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the work currently being undertaken by the RTB to recruit and train additional staff; the number of additional staff that have been hired to date in 2023; and the number of additional staff the agency needs to ensure that responses to queries and adjudication decisions made are communicated to both landlords and tenants in a timely manner. [10073/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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299. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has any concerns with the performance of the RTB under the Oversight Agreement and Performance Delivery Agreement in place between the agency and his Department. [10074/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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300. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the engagement there has been with the RTB Executive, the RTB Board and his Department in relation to ongoing IT issues around the registration of tenancies; and when the new IT system to tackle this issue will be in place. [10075/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 298 to 300, inclusive, together.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as a quasi-judicial independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 (RTA) to regulate the rental sector; provide information to tenants and landlords; maintain a national register of tenancies; resolve disputes between tenants and landlords; and conduct research and provide information to inform policy). The remit of the RTB covers the private rental sector, the not-for-profit housing providers commonly known as Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and Student-specific Accommodation providers (SSA).

My Department and I, as Minister, are responsible for the oversight of the RTB which is underpinned by governance arrangements including an Oversight Agreement and Performance Delivery Agreement (PDA) in place with the RTB making clear the requirements for reporting to my Department, in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.

The PDA sets out both inputs and outputs and key performance indicators for which RTB is accountable and any risks to their delivery. The agreement is produced on a three yearly basis and revised annually, to reflect changes to the legislation which in turn impacts on the RTB’s mandate and resources. Monitoring of RTB performance under these agreements is done through regular communication and engagement between the Department and the RTB, including Quarterly Governance Meetings, performance review meetings and other meetings as required.

Following the passing of legislation in 2019, with effect from 4 April 2022, landlords are required 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.

To facilitate Annual Registration the RTB implemented a new tenancy Management system which is an operational matter for the RTB. Although many landlords and agents have successfully registered their tenancies on the system, I have been made aware that some landlord and agent customers are encountering issues with the new RTB tenancy registration 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 further assured officials that it is very conscious of the need to ensure that any landlord or letting agent renewing a tenancy during Cycle 2 of Annual Registration has a much-improved experience of the system than they may have had during Cycle 1. During Q1 and Q2 2023, progressive improvements will be implemented in the registration system addressing key areas of functionality and addressing known issues causing difficulty for landlords and agents. The RTB is also implementing incremental improvements and bug fixes within the registration system via regular service patches. These are being released on an ongoing basis.

Following recommendations in the RTB Workforce Plan (2018 – 2021) and engagement with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), the RTB received sanction for significant additional staff over the past three years. The RTB has a sanctioned staffing compliment of 110. It currently has 100 permanent staff and is carrying 10 vacancies. The RTB is actively recruiting to fill the remaining vacancies and to date this year, the RTB has appointed 15 new recruits to permanent positions. Separately, on 18 January 2023 DPER sanctioned a 3rd PO Digital & Data Services post within the RTB Executive Management Team Structure which is now advertised on the RTB website. Additional funding of €2m will be provide to the RTB for 2023, bringing its total allocation to €13.37m.

The RTB is also supported by a third party outsourced service provider who carries out the RTB’s call centre, document management and data entry functions. This contract gives the RTB the flexibility to increase resources as and when required. The outsourcer’s staff are not RTB employees. The RTB has recently almost doubled the staffing in its outsourced call centre to deal with the issues that have arisen following the introduction of annual registration and it has been working hard to find the right balance between ensuring contracted staff are adequately trained and capable of assisting customers with their queries, ranging from linking tenancies, verifying accounts, and data-inputting paper applications. 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.