Many of the Deputies questions are rhetorical.

Of course.

We have not even published the Report Stage amendments of the Land Development Agency Bill yet.

That is just for clarification. We have not published the Report Stage amendments of the Land Development Agency Bill.

Perhaps it has a mole in the Bills Office.

It would not surprise me.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle and all Deputies for facilitating the debate on this urgent legislation in the Dáil before the summer recess. I thank the Chief Whip, the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, the members of the Business Committee and, in particular, the members of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for enabling the Residential Tenancies (No.2) Bill to be read a Second Time here today. The Bill is a further timely a…

I will talk to the Deputy afterwards.

It is not the case.

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for tabling the amendment. Deputy Duncan Smith has a related amendment which has not yet been moved. Am I correct in saying that I am only addressing amendment No. 1 at the moment?

I can speak to both. I thank the Deputies for tabling the amendments although I cannot accept either of them. To define "deposit" as is proposed in these amendments, which are well-meaning, is unnecessary. Section 4 amends section 16 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, inserting a new section 16(a)(iii) which provides a new reference to a deposit a tenant might be obliged to pay. Section 12 of the 2004 Act, which deals with the obligations of landlords, has included reference to deposits since 2004 without a def…

I thank the Deputies for tabling these amendments. I cannot accept them and I will explain why presently. First, I want to inform the House that no one is pretending to do anything. We brought in effective measures last July and we have extended them since. In addition, we brought forward some permanent changes, relating to rent arrears, deposit restrictions and minimum notice periods, which are not pandemic-related. I am not having a go at the Deputies who brought forward these amendments by pointing out that some…

I have very little else to say, other than I have outlined why I am not accepting the amendments. We have been doing very detailed work in respect of the rent increase issue, which I expect to be able to bring to a conclusion shortly. I have said that. If some Members do not want to accept that, it is fine. The whole issue is not about pretending that it is a serious situation. I know that Members of the Opposition also take it seriously. Fundamentally, we are extending protections and provisions. To reiterate, and…

I thank Deputies Duncan Smith and Cian O'Callaghan for their amendments. They have outlined the purpose of their amendments, which is to extend the deadlines concerning protections and eligibility. In framing all the legislation we produced since the lifting of the blanket eviction ban, the concern I had and that was raised with me legally related to how legally sound the measure was. Anything we introduce has to be proportionate, whether people like it or not. Members will understand that we have to have targeted …

I am aware of it.

I do not want to get into a political back-and-forth with Deputy Cian O'Callaghan; he knows exactly what I said. I said the trend has been absolutely in the right direction. The number is still far too high; there is no question about that. Monthly figures on families, children and individuals who are homeless will be published on Friday and I expect to see a further reduction. The figure has increased in some cohorts over the month. We will take the figures year on year, so I will not go down that road with the De…

I will deal with a number of issues that have been raised. On amendment No. 10, I understand from Deputy Ó Broin's contribution that he will withdraw this amendment. I thank him for his understanding in that regard. We are actively working on that and I intend to come back on that within a short period of time. I think the Deputy understands why I cannot expand too much on that at this stage. I acknowledge that and we all want to get to the position where that issue is resolved. It is resolvable, work is ongoing an…

I will check out that point. It is a good point. I understand if they had paid in advance above the two months and availed of the 28-day notice period, any rent paid past that date should be refundable. I will double-check that with officials this evening and respond to Deputies. We need to further clarify but that is my understanding of how it is read right now. The notice period is there for a valid reason. We learned valuable lessons through Covid, particularly with students who paid semesters up front and were …

I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce this Bill. I sincerely thank the Seanad for facilitating the urgent passage of what is very important legislation, and facilitating its passage not just here in the Seanad but starting it here for it to conclude very shortly, before the recess. For this reason I have asked the House to consider a motion to enable the President to sign the Bill earlier than would be routine. I am bringing forward the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021, as a matter of…

I was listening.