Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 17, to delete lines 27 to 35 and substitute the following:

" "(a) the rent payable under the tenancy concerned shall continue to be payable --(i) to the landlord by the tenant or, as the case may be, each multiple tenant, or

(ii) where the dwelling concerned is the subject of a sub-tenancy, to the head-tenant by the sub-tenant or, as the case may be, each subtenant,".".

These amendments arise out of amendments tabled on Committee Stage which provided for the introduction of a new procedure to enable the PRTB to deal effectively with tenants who do not pay rent during the dispute process.

The purpose of these amendments, which are in the main technical drafting amendments, is to specifically provide for the application of that new procedure by a sub-tenancy. Members will recall that the Committee Stage amendments provided for an expedited process to deal with the issue of non-payment of rent by a tenant remaining in situ. The substantive amendment is contained in amendment No. 23, which inserts a new Part into the Schedule of the 2004 Act.

Amendment No. 10 clarifies that the rent continues to be payable by the sub-tenant to the head tenant pending the determination of any dispute.

Amendments Nos. 11 to 18, inclusive, and 21 are short amendments which remove the reference to a "sub-tenant" or "sub-tenancy" from sections 76A and 86(4) as sub-tenancies are now provided for in the Schedule.

Amendment No. 19 provides that if a landlord is referring a complaint under section 76A, he or she must notify any sub-tenant of the complaint. Amendment No. 20 specifically provides for the application of section 76A to sub-tenancies in the same way as the section applies to a tenancy. Amendment No. 22 is a technical amendment which clarifies that section 76A determination orders are binding orders under the Act. Amendment No. 29 provides for two technical drafting amendments consequential to the division of the Schedule into two parts.

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