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

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, to delete lines 21 to 40 and substitute the following:" "(c) a dwelling that is let by or to a public authority,".".

On foot of detailed discussions with the approved housing bodies sector during the initial drafting of the Bill, it was decided to exclude approved housing body tenants in receipt of care support services from the application of the Residential Tenancies Act. This was done on the basis that the sector was of the view that these services could be more effectively delivered outside the confines of the Act. However, in the light of further consultation with the Irish Council for Social Housing and the sector in general following publication of the Bill, I decided that the 2004 Act should be applied to all approved housing body tenants, unless they came under one of the exclusions already provided for in that legislation. The amendments in this group provide for that policy change, which I signalled during the debate on Second Stage and which was supported by almost all Deputies who took part in that debate. In essence, this is a rights-based issue and the amendments will lead to the same rights, obligations and legal protections being extended to as many tenants as possible.

Amendment No. 3 provides for the inclusion of all approved housing body tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 by completely removing the exemption in section 3(2)(c)(ii) of that Act.

The effect of this amendment will be to extend the rights and protections provided by the 2004 Act to a greater number of approved housing body tenants. This is a significant and far-reaching improvement and was raised by one of the members on Second Stage.

Amendments Nos. 6 and 13 are drafting amendments to clarify the wording used in the Bill, as published. I commend these provisions to members and I am happy to discuss the details further.