Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister acknowledge that there is a continuing problem in this area, in particular with institutional landlords in the context of retail outlets seeking to address issues of rent reviews? To maintain the capital value of their balance sheets, they are resisting any type of new arrangement, other than one that involves a rent increase, or at the very minimum rents remaining at current levels despite the collapse of commercial rental values.

Will the Minister also accept that it is a substantial difficulty in the context of any arbitration work, where an arbitrator in determining rents has to look at comparators, for example, with an individual shopping centre or town centre? If the only comparators of recent vintage available are those which show substantial rent increases, with secret incentives having been provided to tenants to agree to those rent increases, does he agree that this is distorting the market, putting other tenants in a very unfair position and rendering the arbitration process practically impossible?

I suggest two things to the Minister. The first is that this sort of conduct, an incentivised rent increases so as to artificially inflate rents, should be criminalised. Since the legislation he mentioned was enacted, there is an alternative legal opinion from a very eminent senior counsel indicating that in the current market situation, amendments of current leases by statute to allow for rent reviews downwards, or I should say amendments of leases concluded prior to 28 February last, would be constitutionally permissible. Is the Minister willing to bring forward legislation to facilitate this on the basis that, if necessary it would be a Bill the President might determine should be sent to the Supreme Court for a constitutional decision?

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