Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government has left it very late in terms of the consultation and the publication of the amendments. They have to be in by 1 p.m. today. It is important to have engagement and consultation. It is incredible that we are where we are, in terms of proposals of this gravity and importance, in the last Dáil sitting week of the year. We are here and we do not want to render tenants more vulnerable now that the proposals have been announced by leaving them to be exploited over the intervening period. We will constructively try to get a resolution to this. We are not satisfied with the capacity of the Residential Tenancies Board to deal with all of this.

We believe the extended areas should be included in the amendments. It is just too restricted at present in respect of Dublin city and Cork city. It has to be expanded beyond those cities and that expansion has to be included in the amendments to the legislation, in our view, and that has to happen forthwith. The proposed increase of 4% is, again, a matter that has to be resolved by the Dáil. We have a view that it is excessive and we are holding to that. We are prepared to be constructive in our engagement with the Government.

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