Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The new formula, which is really reverting back to the original and tweaking it, does address the concerns that both Deputy Ó Broin and myself had raised with regard to the Minister's own stated objective, which is to have a 4% annual increase in rent pressure zones. Vacancies that were filled would be a part of that also, in that the 4% would be annualised in those areas. We wish to point out to the Minister again that our proposal, and the best proposal, is to link the rate to the consumer price index. The amendment that the Minister tabled yesterday would have meant that properties in their first year would have seen up to an 8% increase. The amendment to the amendment that the Minister tabled last night, as Deputy Ó Broin and I pointed out to the Minister, had the effect that all new tenancies would have been able to increase the rent by 4%, despite the fact that they may have just increased the rent in a previous tenancy a month ago to 4%. There is no doubt that the new amendment closes those two loopholes down. That is to be welcomed, despite the fact that we still believe this is the wrong approach for the Government to take.

I made the point last night that it beggars belief what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were talking about in all those hours yesterday when they missed such a crucial point that renters across the city and in other pressure points that will be designated in the future were going to see a maximum of an 8% increase. Last night, the amendment did not recognise the fact that all new tenancies would have seen another potential 4% increase, regardless of when the last increase took place. I wish to commend the Minister's officials and I wish to be associated with the words of Deputy Ó Broin in terms of what I believe was the unfair pressure put on officials. At the end of the day, it is not the Minister who writes the legislation. The Minister gives directions. I would not like to have been an official in the Department last night, given the pressure of coming up with an amendment, having to deal with another amendment, introducing it at Report Stage, reverting back to Committee Stage and all of that type of nonsense.

Even at this point, I have just seen the new amendment in the last few minutes. I recognise that there has been a briefing attended by our spokesperson Deputy Ó Broin. I welcome that. That is the right type of approach from Government and I believe it is a mark of this Minister's performance in his ministry in terms of the consultation he engages in with his colleagues in Opposition parties and Independents. That is to be welcomed. However, we still do not have ample time to scrutinise this in detail. There is no guarantee that we have not picked up on unintended consequences that we may have picked up if we had what would be the normal process in which amendments would be tabled three or four days before Committee Stage and then be allowed to progress to Report Stage.

I wish to add the caveat that this is not the right way to deal with the situation, which at the end of the day is about thousands of euro that renters will have to pay when these rent reviews come in. That goes back to the substance of why we disagree with this approach, which is basically allowing for rent certainty for landlords, in that they can increase rent by 4% year on year. At least through our intervention in Sinn Féin, we have ensured that it will not be an 8% increase in the first year or an additional 4% every time a new tenancy is arranged.

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