Parliamentary Question for Jan O Sullivan TD
For WRITTEN ANSWER on 1/05/2014
To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on proposals to introduce a rental deposit scheme as part of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012; the form the proposed scheme will take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19854/14]
Reply
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to establish a tenancy deposit protection scheme. On foot of this commitment I asked the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to commission research on such a scheme and to report back to me with recommendations in that regard. The subsequent report assessed a number of different options for delivery of a deposit protection scheme ranging from one where all elements are delivered by the PRTB to one where all elements are outsourced to a private operator. The report examined each option in terms of both insurance and custodial type schemes.
I have considered all of the options presented in the report in order to determine how to offer the greatest protection to tenants at least cost to the Exchequer and in this regard recently secured Government approval for the establishment of a tenancy deposit scheme based on a custodial model. Under the proposed scheme any deposit paid to the landlord by the tenant must be lodged with a deposit protection scheme at the commencement of the tenancy and will be available to be returned to the tenant at the end of the tenancy.
Legislative provisions for the scheme, which are currently being drafted by Parliamentary Counsel, will be included in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 at Committee stage in the Seanad.