Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide updated figures on the number of private rental inspections completed; the number of dwellings inspected not meeting regulatory requirements; the number of improvement letters, improvement notices, and prohibition notices issued; and the number of legal actions initiated by Galway City and County Councils in 2023. [8817/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 and responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority. If a property has been found to be non-compliant with the Regulations, it is a matter for the local authority to determine what action is necessary and appropriate. Under sections 18A and 18B of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, a housing authority may serve an Improvement Notice or Prohibition Notice, respectively, where a property is found to be non-compliant.

Local authorities conducted over 49,000 inspections of private rented dwellings in 2022, a significant increase from 25,000 in 2020 and 20,000 in 2021, when pandemic restrictions had impacted on inspections. Provisional data indicates that all-time high of over 63,000 inspections were conducted last year. Annual data in respect of the level of inspections carried out by each local authority is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/.

Preliminary 2023 data in respect of the councils requested is set out in the table below.