Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to get clarity on this issue because I certainly did not get clarity from the Minister's reply. In subsection (6) there are two criteria that would make exemptions from the new subsections (3) and (4), so the 4% does not apply. It is either where a notice has been issued under section 22(2), which is clear enough - we can understand that - or where a rent review concerned has commenced. It is clear that if there are two categories, there will be two different dates and, in logic, the commencement of a rent review must be before the actual notice is issued. What constitutes the commencement of a rent review? The Minister's response to me is that it is when negotiations begin, but that is an impossibility to determine in law. There is no definition in the Bill. There is no definition in any of the amendments, and it seems to me there would be the possibility, as Deputies have said, of the Minister simply saying he has commenced a review in advance of the issuing of any notice and he is therefore exempt from the new provisions that will apply to rent pressure zones.

See this speech in context