The Government has been urged to give a greater role to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) following the rental scam in Dublin in which tenants were conned out of up to €35,000. Some 15 couples lost €2,300 each when a conman advertised an apartment in the Sweepstakes in Ballsbridge on property website Daft.ie.
He gave each couple a lease and a set of keys and took the cash deposits, but when they arrived at the apartment the keys did not fit.
The couples have no way of getting a refund on their deposit.
The role of the board is to provide a dispute resolution service for landlords and tenants. It is also responsible for tenancy registration and since September 2004 all landlords must register new tenancies with the board.
But it does not currently hold deposits for tenants.
Labour deputy Éamon Gilmore said that deposits on rented residential properties should be payable to the board and not to individual landlords.