Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will outline the measures that have been taken to improve the residential tenancies board to support tenancy registrations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11885/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Residential Tenancies Board, or RTB, was established as a quasi-judicial independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 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 Board covers the private rental sector, the not-for-profit housing providers commonly known as Approved Housing Bodies and Student-specific Accommodation providers. The day-to-day operations of the RTB are a matter for the Board.

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. 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 the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery, 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 an additional Principal Officer post, who will have responsibility for Digital and Data Services, 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 staffing level at the outsourced call centre has been doubled in size to deal with the issues that have arisen following the introduction of annual registration. 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.