Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, must be done in order to determine whether amending the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2016 is the best approach to take to regulating student-specific accommodation provided under licence. We are focused on this. It may well be that bespoke legislation, subject to further legal advice, might better achieve the intended purposes of the Bill without adding significantly to the heavy workload of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. I recognise that Sinn Féin is prepared to accept necessary changes.

The Department of Education and Skills is liaising with officials from my Department - the Minister of State is leading that work and I have met her regarding the matter a couple of times - including through the forum of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Student Accommodation, which is convened by the Department of Education and Skills to examine the wide range of student accommodation types and ancillary services available with a view to considering how best to regulate pricing arrangements.

While the Government is not in a position to support the Bill at this stage, we do not oppose it. The Departments of Education and Skills and Housing, Planning and Local Government will consider the Bill's proposals further. They have been doing so in recent times. In the event it is considered that there is a policy-based case for legislation in this area, proposals will be introduced, either in a stand-alone Bill or in the context of the second of two residential tenancies (amendment) Bills envisaged for this year. It is not a case of telling students that we do not support them or are not with them. Rather, we want to get this right.

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