Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

We are on the same page with regard to having difficulty with the circumstances of certain people who entered into rents at the peak of the Celtic tiger era. We cannot pass a law here that would rewrite that contract unless both parties are willing to do it. In many cases landlords are renegotiating and in some cases they are not. It may very well be that a landlord or a body which provided a party with finance in order to produce a development is insisting on these circumstances and ensuring they get what is in the contract.

We changed the law for future leases and there is information that this will have and already has had an effect. With new leases, the market has dampened significantly and not just because of economic circumstances. New leases not having upward only rent reviews is having a significant effect on the type of rent being sought. It is providing certainty not only to landlords but to the tenants. We have looked at this high up and low down and we want to be helpful to people finding themselves in difficulty. We can only act in a way that is legally possible.

I will go back to what I said on retrospective action on Committee Stage of the legislation we discussed yesterday. The fact is we cannot pass a law today that would rewrite contracts entered into freely by people. I know instances have been indicated by some people who say we can-----

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