401 Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason an additional fee has to be paid to the Private Residential Tenancies Board every time a new tenant takes up residence in a registered property; and if he has issued a direction to agencies operating under his Department that fee increases should not exceed rises in the general price index, especially at times when the rental income stream is falling sharply. [3395/11]

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides that a landlord must apply to register the tenancy of a dwelling with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). Such registration must be accompanied by a fee, the level of which is dependent on whether the tenancy is registered within one month of its commencement or later than one month after the commencement of the tenancy. There is also a specific fee for the registration of several tenancies within the same property within one month of the commencement of the tenancies.

It is not the case that a new fee is payable every time a new tenant joins a tenancy. Where the details of an existing tenancy, including the addition of a new tenant to the tenancy, are updated to the Board by the landlord no fee is payable.

The maximum duration of a tenancy under the Act is four years, after which a new tenancy must be registered with the Board. In the case of a dwelling subject to several different tenancies in a 12 month period, no more than two registration fees are payable.

I have not issued any directions to agencies operating under the aegis of my Department in relation to fee increases of the type mentioned.