20.—(1) The Minister may make regulations requiring a landlord of a house let for rent or other valuable consideration to register the tenancy of such a house with the housing authority in whose functional area the house is situate and to furnish such particulars as the regulations may specify, including in each case the name and address of the landlord and of the tenant and the amount of the rent or the value or nature of the other consideration, as the case may be.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may be expressed to apply to houses or tenancies of a particular class or classes and may contain such provisions as the Minister considers necessary for the purposes of this section.

(3) F40[…]

(4) A housing authority shall keep a register (in this section referred to as “the register”) for the purposes of this section in respect of all houses in their functional area to which regulations under this section relate and shall make all such entries therein as may from time to time be appropriate in accordance with this section and such regulations.

(5) The register shall be kept at an office of the housing authority designated by them and shall be available for inspection by any person during normal office hours.

(6) (a) A copy of an entry in the register purporting to be certified by an authorised officer of the housing authority shall, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, be deemed to have been so certified by the authority and shall be received in evidence accordingly.

(b) Evidence of an entry in the register may be given by the production of a copy thereof certified in accordance with paragraph (a) and it shall not be necessary to produce the register.

(7) Where an application is made to a housing authority for a copy of an entry in the register, the copy shall be issued to the applicant on payment by him of such fee (if any) in respect of each entry as the Minister may, from time to time, prescribe by regulations or as may be determined by the authority where not so prescribed.

(8) All fees received by a housing authority F41[by virtue of any requirement on landlords relating to the registration of tenancies] shall be paid, as appropriate, into the county fund or the municipal fund.

(9) A person authorised by a housing authority for the purposes of this section may at all reasonable times enter into and inspect a house to which regulations under this section apply as respects any particulars required by the regulations to be furnished to the authority.

(10) References in section 11 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982, and in sections 7 and 8 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) (Amendment) Act, 1983, to regulations under section 24 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982, shall be construed as references to regulations made or deemed by virtue of section 37 to have been made under this section.