John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am proposing to bring forward additional amendments through this Bill to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019. The changes relating to the recently enacted section 37 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 are primarily technical but also to close off a potential means of circumventing the application of aspects of the 2004 Act, such as registration, dispute resolution and rent increase restrictions in rent pressure zones to student-specific accommodation occupied under licence. Technical amendments are also proposed to clarify that the student-specific accommodation provisions and the provisions requiring annual registration can come into force separately. The student-specific accommodation provisions are intended to commence in mid-July, prior to the late commencement of the provisions requiring annual registration that are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2020. That explains the urgency to address this issue before the summer recess.

The 2019 Act also amended section 19 of the 2004 Act to specify the types of substantial refurbishment works warranting a higher rent level which could qualify for exemption from the rent increase restrictions that operate in rent pressure zones as protected structures are unable to qualify for exemptions on the basis of works to approving their building energy renting. It is proposed to further amend section 19(5A) of the 2004 Act to allow the first rent set under the tenancy of the protected structure dwelling not rented in the previous 12 months to be the market rent.

It is also proposed to make a small technical amendment for consistency in the wording of section 3(1) of the 2004 Act by replacing “include” with “applied to”.

I also intend to bring forward amendments to the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2018 at the next Stage with amendment to section 31A and consequential amendments to sections 31AQ and 31AR of the regional spatial and economic strategies. This is a time-critical amendment which arises in the context of the establishment of the new Office of the Planning Regulator on 23 April 2019. Section 31A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for ministerial directions regarding regional spatial and economic strategies. As currently enacted, section 31A provides only that the Minister can issue a direction on foot of a recommendation made to him or her by the Office of the Planning Regulator. This cannot be satisfied in the three regional spatial and economic strategy processes currently under way, given that each commenced prior to the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator. This amendment provides for transitional arrangements to ensure the Minister has a robust legal basis to issue a direction to a regional assembly, if necessary. The proposed amendments will apply only in respect of the three current regional spatial and economic strategies which commenced prior to the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator. Section 31A, and related sections 31AQ and 31AR, will remain valid in the cases of the regional spatial and economic strategies made in the future.

I also want to flag a further minor technical amendment that is proposed to section 11(1)(b) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to 2018. Section 11(1)(a) requires a planning authority to give notice of its intention to review its existing development plan not later than four years after it is made and to prepare a new development for its area. Sections 11(1)(aa) and 11(1)(ab) allow for an alternate notification period for Cork City and County Councils whereby they may extend the notification period to review their existing development plan from four years to a maximum of five years by way of ministerial order. This is to facilitate the significant workload and range of complex issues arising from the revisions to the local government arrangements in Cork. However, the special provisions of Cork City and County Councils were not included in section 11(1)(b) for the purposes of enabling the incorporation of the national planning framework and the regional spatial economic strategy into the development plan.

For legal certainty, this technical amendment inserts the special provisions for Cork in paragraphs (aa)and (ab)and section 11, subsection (1)(b)(i), (ii) and (iii). This ensures consistency in section 11(1)(a)and section 11(1)(b)provisions.