Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2020-07-31
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Barry Ward (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel

There is an important point here. I have spent 14 years of my life representing the very people that Senator Boylan talked about, namely, members of the Traveller and Roma communities and those in the parts of society that are done down by officialdom. I have defended those people and I know very well what life is like for them. There is a suggestion that if we change what is in this Bill, the kind of landlords to whom Senator Higgins mentioned, that is, those who are unscrupulous are not going to say exactly the same thing anyway. There is also a suggestion that if we change the language and put in two words that mean exactly the same thing, that will somehow change the way people approach this matter. There is a further suggestion that the very people who are disadvantaged in society and to whom Senator Boylan refers in the context of her amendment are going to be reading this legislation in the first place. They will not be doing so for exactly the reasons that I mentioned earlier. This amendment creates an apprehension that is ill-founded and unnecessary. The legislation is clear in what it says.
The law is clear. It is not just this legislation, the matter is covered by common law, regulation and the application of that law in the courts. People will not be done down by the fact that this uses simple words such as "false" and "misleading" as opposed to the other language that it is being proposed. I understand where the Senators are coming from but they should not throw it back on me and suggest that I somehow do not understand how this system works. I do because, as I already pointed out to Senator Boylan, I have fought for these people for 14 years and I will not be lectured on the subject by her. I know very well how the system works and I also know that the amendments proposed here are unnecessary. They are not going to change the situation one jot. There will still be unscrupulous people who will try to manipulate those who are done down by society. That is still going to happen no matter what amendments are accepted. Rather than throwing stones across the Chamber, we have a Minister of State who has considered these matters, has engaged on them, has taken on board what has been said but who disagrees. That is the difference. It is not frustration, it is disagreement. If, however, one disagrees with Sinn Féin, one is always on the wrong side of the argument. I will not take lectures from the Senator.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2020-07-31/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-07-31