Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I wish to put on record the reason for our decision to waive the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. We are 19 days away from the current legislation expiring, at which point people will be at risk. Government members on the committee made the decision to ensure that the maximum time was available to the greatest number of representatives in the House during this Stage as opposed to a smaller number of us carrying out pre-legislative scrutiny and either the current legislation expiring or this Bill being rushed through the House. That is the context of our decision and I stand over it. Far more Deputies will spend their time speaking against the Bill than for it.

That is the nature of the allocation of speaking time in the Dáil.

I am scratching my head a little on this issue. I accept the bona fides of all Members who have spoken today on the Bill. I presume it is not being used just to land another charge of negativity against the Government. However, when one considers the renters who might not have the same protection under the Bill as they did previously, one should remember that as long as the 5 km restriction is in place, the protections will remain and we have no certainty yet regarding when the 5 km restriction will end.

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