An idea to solve the issue of unregistered tenancies

CONGRATULATIONS are due to Michael O’Farrell on his story ‘Tenancies Board spent over €7m on computer system that doesn’t work’ (MoS, September 18)).

I was horrified to read that so much money paid by small landlords like myself had been wasted on a useless computer system.

According to the RTB’s 2020 accounts, landlords’ registration fees received were €11,654,588.

In 2022, this figure will be higher as landlords now have to file every year, even if there is no change of tenants or of rent. And whereas before they paid €90 for one filing covering four years, they now pay €40 a year – a percentage increase of 78%.

The rationale for the new rules on annual landlord filing would appear to be simply to raise more money from landlords. The fees paid by landlords in 2020 were 174% of the Government grant to the RTB for that year.

Why do landlords have to pay a fee to this Government body that they are obliged by law to deal with?

I filed my annual return and paid the new fee on time; I sent in the form by post with a cheque. Three weeks later, after the cheque had long been deducted from my bank account, I received a reminder from the RTB. This is simply not good enough.

I have a suggestion to resolve the issue of some landlords, especially TDs, being so busy that they overlook their legal filing requirements. Let tenants take over the filing of their tenancy. It would be the same form that landlords use. This would have the advantage that tenants would register the actual rent they are paying. I suspect that landlords who are breaking the rent cap rules might complete their form creatively so as not to reveal the rent actually being charged.

Surely tenants would happily accept this requirement because it would mean their tenancies were correctly registered in a timely manner, which is in their interests.

Enid O’Dowd, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

Mental health needs

IT IS widely known that the waiting lists for mental health services in this country have far surpassed what they should be.

At present, hundreds of children have been waiting more than one year to be seen by mental health services. This is a huge concern which needs drastic change implemented immediately.

Concerns over children’s mental health have increased since the pandemic. A nationally representative survey commissioned by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) this year found that 94% of people think it is important for children to have access to counselling/ psychotherapy. There is an

urgent need for the Government to address this.

What the IACP is proposing in the upcoming Budget would ensure equal treatment in terms of tax relief for counselling and psychotherapy and VAT measures for mental health professionals.

In addition, and in order to address the growing need for counselling and psychotherapy services for children and young people, it is proposed that funding be provided to establish access to counselling and psychotherapy through schools.

This initiative would be a critical step towards giving our young people access to the help they need when they need it.

The IACP is calling on the Government to increase investment in counselling and psychotherapy, with the aim of establishing universal access for all in need.

Mental health must be a top priority for Budget 2023.

Lisa Molloy, CEO, IACP, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Trapping of hares

THE threats to the native Irish hare include predation, habitat loss and human disturbance. One threat posed by humans should engage our attention as we near the end of this month: coursing.

Despite their legendary hypervigilance and almost all-round vision, thousands of the wily creatures still get caught in nets laid by coursing clubs throughout August and September.

They capture them for one reason alone: to set dogs on them in the confines of a wired enclosure for the benefit of gamblers and ‘sportspeople’.

For the duration of their seven to 12 weeks of captivity the hares will be safe from non-human predators, but then, on coursing day, they have to use all their speed and agility to avoid getting mauled, having their bones crushed, or being tossed into the air like sliotars on a hurling pitch.

Coursing is well past its sell-by date. It cries out for abolition. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co. Kilkenny.