Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Bhille seo. Measaim gur cuid den jab atá againn istigh sa Dáil, nuair a n-aithnítear go bhfuil fadhb le reachtaíocht go ndéanaimid an fhadhb sin a réiteach. Is trua go bhfuil sé á dhéanamh faoi phráinn, mar tá a lán fadhbanna eile agamsa leis an mBille um Thionóntactaí Cónaithe (Leasú) 2009, nó an bun Bhille, 2004, agus ba chóir dúinn féachaint ar siúd chomh maith leis an bun-fhadhb atá anseo.

As regards the illegal appointments being retrospectively validated, it is great to be a Minister. The fact that illegal actions may be validated retrospectively is interesting, and this is not the first time. Only last year the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government had to act because two councillors, a Fianna Fáil and Green Party councillor, were illegally appointed to the board. That said, our job is to address faults when we spot them and ensure that a body such as the PRTB is able to function properly and can address the resolutions. If anything, we should address how to increase the capacity of the PRTB, especially going into the period where landlords will try to change tenancies, tenants will seek to avoid payments and so on. Yesterday I welcomed the announcement concerning new standards to improve rental accommodation. I hope the Minister of State will ensure they come into effect quickly because prevention of problems will help the PRTB deal with its enormous workload, enabling it to concentrate on the resolution of disputes.

I welcome the Bill. I hope it will address the problems so that we do not have to come back to the matter of dealing with appointments in future, but rather can concentrate on resource failures.

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