Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us to raise this issue which follows a very significant court judgment yesterday on the lease for Bewley's café on Grafton Street. I recognise there is a specific component in that lease, at which people are looking. However, for the first time, the issue of protection and property rights has been challenged in the courts. This is a chance for us to bring the issue back to the Dáil.

The retail sector has been facing a very significant challenge for the past five years, with which the Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, has been trying to deal. The one area with which many retailers cannot deal is rental costs because of these old-style leases which provide for upward-only rent reviews. That no longer applies to new leases and, in some cases, rents have been negotiated downwards. However, in the majority of cases, that has not been possible. If one takes a walk down any street in any town or city, one will see the consequences of this.

Yesterday Mr. Justice Charleton gave us the opportunity to take action on this issue. What are the Government's plans in this regard? There is a commitment in the programme for Government to address the issue. Before entering government, the Government parties were advised that it was constitutional, but now that they are in government, they have been advised that they cannot proceed because of constitutional issues. The Minister now has the chance to stop hiding behind the constitutional defence. We are due to have referendums-----

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