Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I concur with the Deputy, and my amendment is trying to achieve the same objective. I find subsection (4) very odd. If I make a complaint to the Residential Tenancies Board today about my landlord breaching the terms of the tenancy agreement, the first thing the RTB will do is recommend mediation. As I always recommend to constituents, always go for mediation. It is the reasonable thing to do. If the mediation takes place and it does not provide a suitable outcome, the Residential Tenancies Board automatically moves to adjudication. It has its hearing and its decision. It would be nonsensical to say that if mediation breaks down because, for example, the building contractor does not participate or is just obstructive, the complainant has to go and make a fresh complaint. Unless I am misinterpreting section 44(4), it is essentially suggesting that it has to go back to the start. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's amendment is probably better drafted than mine in the sense that it refers back to the board for investigation. However, one way or another, if mediation fails for whatever reason, it should automatically go into the adjudication phase rather than requiring somebody to step out of the process and start again. If neither amendment meets the standards of parliamentary drafting, I strongly urge the Minister of State to bring forward a similar amendment on Report Stage.