Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 8, line 5, after "Act" to insert "(other than section 100)".

These amendments provide for the insertion of a small number of changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The main change is being made to put beyond doubt that the scope of the Act does not extend to owner-occupied leasehold dwellings such as apartment owner-occupiers where the relevant lease is in excess of 35 years. As matters stand, section 3(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 lists certain dwellings which fall outside the remit of the Act. That list is exhaustive and cannot be supplemented without legislative amendment. Therefore, unless a dwelling falls outside the remit of the Act pursuant to section 3(2), the dwelling may be deemed to be an appropriate dwelling under the Act for the purposes of dispute resolution, subject to certain other conditions under the Act being satisfied.

This could mean, for example, that a dispute over service charges between a management company and an owner-occupier in an apartment block, who also happens to be a leasee, could fall for resolution by the Private Residential Tenancies Board in the same way the normal landlord-tenant disputes do. Of course, it was never the intention that the Act would have application to owner-occupiers of apartments. The amendment I propose will put that matter beyond doubt.

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