Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

There are good reasons retrospective legislation is only resorted to on very rare occasions. The particular instance which Deputy O'Shea has raised is that of a person who was in a normal landlord and tenant relationship. The relationship was terminated. The tenancy was terminated on the basis that the landlord would not extend the tenancy because the tenant would accrue rights under existing legislation by virtue of the renewal. Accordingly, the landlord and tenant relationship came to an end. The Deputy is inviting me to legislate retrospectively for that single instance. It has to be borne in mind that landlords and tenants plan their transactions on the basis of existing law. Were this worded to provide a specified future date, even in advance of the actual commencement of the legislation, I would be open to such an amendment but I cannot retrospectively apply the legislation in the way that is suggested in this amendment because I cannot be certain of what implications that would have for other transactions and for the certainty of other transactions that have been reached.

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