Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to be here for Committee Stage of the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2013 and thank members for their support for it during the Second Stage debate in the Dáil.

The Bill makes technical changes to section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 so that a new and more harmonised system of local authority rents can be implemented effectively. This technical Bill is required because section 31(5)(a) of the 2009 Act contains text that precludes the section from being implemented in a manner that ensures a clear statutory basis for housing authorities to charge rent during the transition to the new rents system. I do not believe I need to elaborate any further on the purpose of the Bill as we had a full debate on it on Second Stage.