Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can speak to both. I thank the Deputies for tabling the amendments although I cannot accept either of them. To define "deposit" as is proposed in these amendments, which are well-meaning, is unnecessary. Section 4 amends section 16 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, inserting a new section 16(a)(iii) which provides a new reference to a deposit a tenant might be obliged to pay. Section 12 of the 2004 Act, which deals with the obligations of landlords, has included reference to deposits since 2004 without a definition of the term being required. This is the explanation. Those references are already there.

The term "deposit" is not defined in the Bill to ensure that the common understanding of it among tenants, landlords, letting agents and the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, continues to operate in the market. The provision of a legal definition could have the unintended consequence of restricting the RTB's discretion in dispute determinations as regards what should be considered to be, or to be included in, a deposit. The broader the understanding of the term, the better. A legal definition of "deposit" could serve as a term to be circumvented by certain parties who may wish to charge something like key money, for example.

The Bill aims to clearly provide that the maximum amount of money to be provided to a landlord to secure a tenancy cannot exceed the value of two months' rent, that any advance rent payment cannot exceed one month's rent and that any deposit cannot exceed one month's rent either. The RTB considers a security deposit to be a sum of money paid by a tenant to a landlord, usually before a tenancy commences or on the date of commencement of a tenancy. The deposit is held by the landlord and is returned to the tenant at the end of the tenancy once no rent arrears, bills, charges or other items are outstanding and once no damage beyond normal wear and tear has occurred. The security deposit is considered the lawful property of the tenant until the landlord establishes a right to it. For those reasons, I am not in a position to accept the amendment, although I understand the thrust of the Deputy's intentions in tabling it.

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