Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the committee secretariat for facilitating this public meeting. It is disappointing that we could not reach an agreement on this issue in our private meeting yesterday. It is a really important issue, in respect of which there is real urgency. The protections for renters will expire if replacement legislation is not enacted. Yesterday, I asked whether the committee could do the pre-legislative scrutiny if it was meeting today. The reality is there is no Bill on today's agenda for us to scrutinise. There is no Bill available to us. When the Bill is published and introduced in the Dáil and the Seanad, every Member of the Dáil and Seanad will have an opportunity to make a contribution and have his or her say. It would serve this committee well to serve renters well and to move this legislation forward. It is not how any of us want to be doing business. As a committee, we work well. Given the urgent circumstances in which we find ourselves and the unavailability of a Bill to scrutinise, we need to move forward and allow the Minister and the Government to bring forward legislation that will extend protections for renters, which every Member of the Dáil and Seanad will have an opportunity to scrutinise, comment on and table amendments to.