Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-08
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

I move amendment No. 2:
In page 5, line 11, after “hearings” to insert “, and the determination of disputes,”.
Amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, are technical drafting amendments to ensure that the Long Title of the Bill more accurately describes the content and purpose of the Bill, taking account of the Government amendments since publication. The Bill provides for procedures for the determination of disputes by the RTB and the enforcement of such determinations, increases the penalties for summary convictions for offences under the residential tenancies Acts 2004 to 2026, and provides for the RTB to serve fixed payment notices in respect of certain offences under the RTA.
Government amendment No. 26 amends section 9 of the Act of 2004 to clarify that its provisions apply to all offences under the Act other than under section 148S(16). Separate provision is made within section 148S for the penalties to apply upon summary conviction and conviction on indictment for an offence under that section.
Government amendment No. 27 provides technical amendments to section 9 to clarify that it provides penalties on summary conviction. At the request of the RTB, the timeframe to institute a prosecution is also proposed to be extended from one year to three years after the date of the offence.
Section 148S of the Act of 2004 is contained in Part 7A, which provides for the investigation and sanction by the RTB of improper conduct by a landlord. It provides that a person who either holds, destroys, conceals or refuses to provide any information or records required for the purposes of an RTB investigation, fails or refuses to comply with any requirement of an RTB authorised officer or otherwise obstructs or hinders an RTB authorised officer in their work, is guilty of an offence. The penalty that currently applies under section 148S(16) on summary conviction is in line with the penalty that will apply, if the Bill is enacted, on summary conviction for all other offences under the RTA, that is, a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both. The penalty that currently applies under section 148S on conviction on indictment will not change under this Bill, that is, a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.
An offence under section 148S(16) is the only indictable offence under the RTA. Section 9 of the Act of 2004 provides for penalties on summary conviction. Section 148S(16), subject to subsection (10), states that a person who either holds, destroys, conceals or refuses to provide any information or records required for the purposes of an investigation, fails or refuses to comply with any requirement of an authorised officer under this section or otherwise obstructs or hinders an authorised officer in the performance of functions imposed under this Part, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction or on conviction on indictment.
Government amendments Nos. 32, 36, 47 and 48 clarify that it will not be required that a fixed payment notice or a copy be provided to the RTB with the corresponding payment of the fine. The aim is to provide for the payment of fines by landlords to be as streamlined as possible for the sector, including the RTB. The RTB is confident that it will be able to track individual payments to correspond with a specific fixed payment notice and, therefore, there is no need to burden the sector with a requirement to provide a copy of the fixed payment notice itself, as these amendments aim for efficiency.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08