Dáil debates

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages

 

7:05 pm

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

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 16, after line 35, to insert the following:“Private residential tenancies register: publication of certain details

22. Section 128 of the Act of 2004 is amended by substituting the following for subsection (4):
“(4) The published register—
(a) shall not contain any information, as respects a particular dwelling, that discloses or could reasonably lead to the disclosure of the identity of the landlord or the tenant of the dwelling,

(b) shall disclose, as respects every dwelling, the amount of the rent payable under the tenancy of that dwelling.”.”.

This amendment provides for the publication of a rent register, with the proviso that it would not contain any information that would disclose or could reasonably lead to the disclosure of the identity of the landlord or the tenant in order to protect the anonymity of the individuals concerned. The aim is to ensure that tenants who are taking on a new tenancy will know what the rent was previously so that they will know if they are being charged more than they should be if the property is in a rent pressure zone. The objective is to provide transparency for subsequent tenants so that the rules of rent pressure zones are not broken.

I know that the Minister has tabled amendments that are related but they are not very strong. His amendments provide that a report will be published "not earlier than 12 months" after commencement and refer to "prevailing rent levels" in the rented sector. That is not what I understand as a rent register, which would provide transparent and useful information to new tenants to ensure that they were not being overcharged.

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