The Dublin apartment block from which 15 immigrant tenants were rescued during a fire last week is not officially registered for letting, The Irish Times has learned.
The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) says it has no record of any apartments at the building on Lower Ormond Quay, as required by law.
Ten of the 30 residents were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after the fire started in rubbish stacked in the hallway of the building.
Since the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2004, landlords face double fees for failing to register on time, while anyone who refuses to register faces penalties of up to €3,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to six months.
The Department of Environment says 45,326 landlords have registered a total of 74,000 tenancies with the board since it was established last year. However, the total number of rental units nationally is estimated to exceed 150,000. The spokesman confirmed the PRTB has yet to take action against any landlord for non-compliance, but said it would shortly be considering what to do in cases where landlords have failed to register.
The PRTB plans to publish the register within the next few weeks. While the names of individual landlords and tenants and rent levels will not be disclosed, the public will be able to obtain detailed information on tenancies for the first time.
Registration costs €70 per tenancy, and landlords have to provide a variety of information, such as rent levels and PPSN numbers. But the Irish Property Owners' Association says it is considering mounting a legal challenge against what it calls the "unworkable bureaucracy" of the PRTB.
Number 3 Ormond Quay is owned by the Keely group, a freight forwarding company with property interests. Michael Kelly, a director of the group along with brothers Anthony and John, said yesterday he didn't know whether the building was registered with the PRTB. "I'm not sure about that. I'd have to check with our auditors. They deal with this," he said.
Mr Kelly said the building was "fire compliant" and "all matters have been adhered to". Expressing relief that no one had been seriously injured, he said he didn't know how many people were in the building at the time of the fire: "It was a Sunday and people were visiting. It's difficult to count people every day."
The building, which is a protected structure, was issued with a fire safety certificate when it was converted from offices to flats in 1997, according to the Dublin Fire Service.
The property was "as designed", according to assistant chief fire officer Pat Fleming, who said a fire alarm installed in the hallway had helped raise the alarm quickly.
Metal bars prevented ground-floor tenants from escaping on to the street, although some were rescued from a yard at the back.
These bars were clearly indicated on the planning application for conversion to apartments, which was approved by Dublin Corporation in 1997.
Dewplan Ltd, another company in the Keely group, made this application.
The housing agency Threshold warned last week of a lack of regulation in the private rental sector and pointed out that where local authorities did inspect apartments, 30 per cent were found to be sub-standard.
