Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

As the Deputy will be aware, there are substantial reports, particularly from the retail sector, of businesses being in substantial difficulty in circumstances in which they negotiated rents, particularly in the 2003 to 2007 period, which no longer reflect market reality and in circumstances in which in the context of the leases to which the businesses are tied there is provision for upward only rent reviews. Certainly it has been my experience that in a number of instances the owners of premises, or the landlords, have been willing on a voluntary basis to renegotiate rents with retailers in the context of them, I presume, realising they are better off having a tenant who can pay rent than having a vacant premises.

I appreciate the Deputy said the evidence on this issue is only anecdotal. I do not believe there has been any definitive statistic published on this but certainly a substantial number of retail outlets have been closed, some of them with substantial publicity, and these are businesses that would have remained viable if landlords, and often what I describe as the larger landlords, including pension funds, had been willing to be more realistic and renegotiate. Many of these had the potential to maintain a position as viable businesses, substantial employment has been lost and there is a public interest in addressing this issue. I do not want though to mislead the House in any way. I know there are certain constitutional difficulties in this issue being addressed and these I anticipate will form part of the consultation process that will result from my initial submission to the Attorney General's office.

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