Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

The Light House Cinema added much to the cultural landscape of Dublin, providing an opportunity for small independent local and international film makers to air their works and cinema goers an opportunity to sample the wares of alternative productions. Closure of the cinema in April of this year marked a milestone in yet another false dawn for the people of Dublin's north inner city. Would the Minister agree that the story of the Light House Cinema is interwoven with the story of upward only rent reviews and the debacle that is NAMA?

The Light House Cinema was established, viable and sustainable, reporting its best box office receipts in the months leading up to its forced closure. Would the Minister agree that a lease signed in 2007 for an annual rent of €100,000 should not be doubled to €200,000 by 2010, in the middle of the worst recession in the history of the State? The legislation allowing upward only rent increases for commercial leases is absurd.

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