Tribunals | Residential Tenancies Board

Following a mediation or adjudication hearing, if any party is unhappy with the outcome, they have the right to appeal to a Tenancy Tribunal.

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A Tenancy Tribunal hearing is a full re-hearing of all the relevant facts of the dispute. Even though the case has already been dealt with by an adjudicator or a mediator, both parties have the opportunity to present the case in its entirety and the Tenancy Tribunal will make a decision on the information presented to it. Parties will be provided with an opportunity to submit any further evidence they deem relevant to their case to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) prior to the Tribunal hearing.

Only the original parties (Applicant/ Respondent) to a particular dispute can do, however, an appeal can also be lodged by a nominated representative on behalf of the dispute applicant or respondent.

Notice parties in third party application cases (the tenants) do not have a right to lodge an appeal.

Submitting an Application for Tribunals

To appeal the outcome of a mediation or adjudication case, an appeal application must be submitted to the RTB via post or email (tribunals@rtb.ie) and must be received on time. The forms to refer a Mediation to Tribunal can be found here and the form to appeal an Adjudication to Tribunal can be found here.

An application must be made within the correct time period:

Mediation – The applicant and/ or respondent may apply to a Tenancy Tribunal within 10 calendar days (this includes Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays) “cooling off” appeal referral period from the date an Agreement was reached or from the date the mediation ceases. If both the applicant and respondent apply for a Tenancy Tribunal, one hearing will be scheduled to deal with both referral applications.

The fee is €30 to refer a mediation outcome to a Tribunal.
Adjudication - The applicant and/ or respondent may appeal to a Tenancy Tribunal within 10 working days of receipt of the Adjudication Report. If both the applicant and respondent appeal the Adjudication outcome, one Tenancy Tribunal will be scheduled to deal with both appeal applications.

The fee is €85 to appeal an adjudicator's decision.

The completed form, along with the fee, should be sent by post to the Residential Tenancies Board, PO Box 47, Clonakilty, County Cork or by email to tribunals@rtb.ie.

Once your application has been submitted, it will be processed by the RTB, and you will receive confirmation if it has been accepted or rejected. The RTB do not review the details of the application, these details are intended for the Tribunal panel members.

Once the application is received on time and with the correct fee, a tribunal hearing will be scheduled, and all parties will be informed of the date and time.

Rejected Applications

Where the original dispute was an adjudication, the adjudicator's Determination Order will issue to all parties.
Where the original dispute was a mediation and an agreement was reached, the Determination Order containing the agreement will issue.
Where the original dispute was a mediation and no agreement was reached, or one or more parties withdrew from the agreement, the case will be closed.

Helpful Questions and Answers

What is the process?

The application will be assigned to three Tribunal Members appointed by the RTB, one of which will act as the Chairperson of the Tribunal. The Tribunal Members, who are members of the Dispute Resolution Committee, will hear the dispute and make a decision based on the evidence before it.

Tribunal hearings are not formal and you may bring a non legal representative, family or friend to the hearing, as well as a solicitor or other professional.

Will I be required to attend the Tribunal Hearing?

If an appeal is made to a Tenancy Tribunal, please note the appellant will be required to attend or arrange to be represented at the Tribunal.

If the appellant does not attend the hearing, without giving any justifiable reason, or does not request the hearing to proceed in their absence, the Tribunal will assume that the appeal has been abandoned.

The RTB will then make a determination order based on the adjudicator’s decision or mediation agreement, if any. If a respondent party has lodged their own appeal, then their case will proceed.

Is legal representation needed?

The RTB has replaced the courts in a majority of cases in relation to landlord and tenant disputes. The RTB was set up to deal with disputes on an informal basis and is intended to minimise expense in the resolution of landlord and tenant disputes. Therefore, legal representation, should not be necessary but parties are free to arrange for representation, if they so wish.

If a party intends to have legal representation at a Tribunal hearing before the RTB, notification of this should be given to the RTB within 7 days of the notification of the hearing date. Costs of legal or other professional representation before the RTB will only be awarded in exceptional circumstances and with the consent of the Board of the RTB.

When will the hearing be held?

Due to the large volume of cases coming before the RTB, it is expected that after lodging a valid appeal, the average timeframe after which your case is likely to be scheduled is within one to two months following the granting of the appeal. Therefore, if there is a genuine issue with availability for any given period of time, please tell us as soon as the appeal has been granted in order for avoid the need for rescheduling. 

All parties to a dispute, will be notified at least 21 days prior to the date on which the Tribunal hearing is due to be held. A Notice of Tenancy Tribunal Hearing will be issued and will include the date, time and purpose of the hearing. 

In certain circumstances parties may be given a shorter period of notice if: 

One or more of the parties' requests a shorter period and the other party consent to this request. 
The dispute concerns alleged behaviour by one of the parties that poses an imminent danger of death or serious injury or imminent danger to the fabric of the dwelling concerned or the property containing that dwelling. 
Where one or more of the parties indicates that there is financial or other hardship.

If parties wish to request a lesser period, they should send a submission in this regard. If you are considering sending such a submission, it would be in your best interest to do it as soon as possible. Even if parties don’t intend to appeal, it is still open to them to make such a submission based on the basis of an appeal being lodged. 

Where will the Tribunal hearing be held?

The hearings are held virtually via Microsoft Teams. The case officer will send you a link to join the hearing which you click at the allocated date and time.

The RTB has a right to schedule a face-to-face hearing and the hearings are held in the following centres: Dublin City (RTB HQ); Cork City; Galway City; Limerick City; Sligo Town; Athlone; and Wexford Town. 

The Tribunal hearing will be held at a venue within a reasonable distance from the location of the rented dwelling that is the subject of the dispute. 