Those are the fundamental lessons. Within that, this Bill is looking at private rental. I recognise and this is good that there is an extension to some measures and in respect of rent. There are some positive elements in this Bill but they are deeply undermined by a couple of those same negative core assumptions which are there as legacies. I am not going to slam any Government party or person for how they act on this but we need to learn and to challenge the assumptions. We do not accept everything as given becaus…

In the previous crisis-----

Regardless of whether or the Minister of State will accept the amendments, some of them will be put to a vote because they should be. However, it is disingenuous to suggest that it is simply the decision of this House because the schedule of the Oireachtas is set by the Government and the Government has chosen that the Dáil rose before the Seanad debated this legislation. This is a very important aspect. I urge the Minister of State to feed information back to his fellow Ministers. There are potentially 11 Stages t…

I support the amendment. We may not press all of these amendments to a vote but with the amendments being grouped in section 4 there will be just two opportunities to speak to the amendments in this section. I put it to the Minister of State that there are a lot of problems with section 4. If the Minister of State cannot accept our amendments, and if he recognises the merit in our arguments, I urge him to consider not commencing section 4. I will be very frank. I believe it opens up significant concerns and fears. …

I look forward to his response when we are finished. Let us be clear. That is what we are asking citizens to figure out and if they do it wrong, they will be afraid - we will come to the question of the sanction - that they will make a wrong declaration. I appreciate that the Minister of State has indicated that plain English will be used and that the RTB will be involved. However, it would have been much more sensible if he accepted the points made and the amendment, which states that we should let the RTB, which …

Could the Minister of State clarify which version of section 8 applies. I wish the process was as Senator Fitzpatrick described it. It would be very reasonable for people to write letters describing their experience. Senator Moynihan's amendment provides that the RTB would be able to tell people if they qualify, but according to the Bill, they must declare that they qualify. That is different. My specific question was on the effect of a relevant person and who was a relevant person.

I asked about persons with a doctor's certificate to say that they were incapable of work under -----

----- the previous section, or are they persons who are deemed by regulation of the Minister to be incapable of work? Which of these sections is the subsection (8) of section 40 being referred to in the Bill was not clarified. I will note that.

I understand that amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, are being debated together. I support the amendment for the deletion of the offence. I have put down amendment No. 5 which covers a very similar ground to that in amendment No. 6 tabled by Senator Boylan. These amendments are us, in good faith, as Opposition Senators, putting forward what we believe are useful clarifications that would have made it a lot simpler. Currently the Bill states, "A person who makes a declaration referred to in subsection (1) that is fa…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, lines 16 and 17, to delete “that is false or misleading in any material respect shall be guilty of an offence” and substitute the following: “shall do so in good faith and where a declaration is found to be false, misleading or inaccurate, that declaration shall not be valid for the purposes of this Act”.

I wish to make a brief point. I am supporting Senator Ruane's recommendation. Our Part 4 protections are quite weak when compared to protections for tenants internationally. There are multiple ways in which Part 4 has been chipped away at over the years in previous legislation relating to residential tenancies. There have been multiple exemptions and loopholes. There are many ways to get around people having Part 4 tenancies. Incentives have been given to landlords in various Finance Acts to carry out certain kinds…

It would be very useful if the Minister of State were able to respond. I noticed a hopeful comment in one of his earlier contributions when he mentioned receivers and the question of the definition of landlord. If he is not in a position to accept the amendment at this point, I hope he might be able to address the question of expanding the definition of landlord and also deal with receivers. I think he made a positive passing comment about addressing that issue in an earlier exchange so I wish to give him an opport…

I move amendment No. 19: 19. In page 8, to delete lines 3 to 5 and substitute the following: “Amendment of section 106 of the Act of 2004 8. Section 106 of the Act of 2004 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection(4)— “(4)Subsection (1) of this section may be satisfied by the online streaming of proceedings from the date of passing of this Act to 10 January 2021. If the online streaming of proceeding under subsection (4) is not feasible, then minutes of the proceedings should be taken and made publicl…

Will the Minister of State indicate if he will have an opportunity to engage with the RTB? It does not mean tribunals cannot be held in public but it means they are not required to be held in public. My question is whether regulations or alternative mechanisms might be explored and if there could be a conversation between the Minister of State and the RTB in respect of guidelines, if not regulations or even if it were to provide, for example, a set of sample tribunals.

Section 9 relates to the tables and the various circumstances under which people in Part 4 tenancies might be evicted. It goes to the absolute core of the issue I mentioned earlier, which is the fact we have a desperate imbalance in the system as is. I will not speak excessively on the two amendments that have been ruled out of order but they relate to the table in section 9. We have been hearing about balance and that when we do something for renters we have to think how it would affect landlords. I reiterate the …

I move amendment No. 26: In page 8, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: "(2A) Where the board on receipt of a termination from a landlord have concerns that the notice may be prima facia invalid, they will notify both the tenant and the landlord of those concerns. This relates to a concern that was very clearly put by Threshold and I commend Threshold on its very consistent work on housing policy. It has highlighted its concern that the process put in place with regard to the notice of terminations, p…

I suggest the amendments are not in any way dealing with impartiality. It is not about being partial to a tenant or liking a tenant. It is about due process. It is about standards in the rental sector and the standards in practice. We know from when we were discussing the legislation and how complex it is that the RTB is sometimes in a better position to know whether something is prima facie invalid or valid. It has the expertise that an individual tenant might not have. I am not suggesting it goes to gun for a par…

I absolutely commend the work of Threshold. However, to some extent, it is unfortunate that we have voluntary bodies that are happy to fulfil the functions that should be fulfilled by the State.

As the substantive point was contained in amendment No. 26, I will not move amendment No. 27.

I move amendment No. 28: In page 9, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: "(5) If the amount of rent sought in a Tribunal dispute is found to be in contravention of any other enactment, including rent pressure zone rates, the claim shall be deemed invalid.". This amendment relates to situations where the amount of rent that is sought in a dispute is found to be in contravention of any other enactment. In section 16( a ) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, which is being used as the basis for notificati…