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

I have outlined the rationale for amendment No. 1. It may have caught some of the Deputies by surprise that the debate on the Bill had started but I was operating to the schedule. What we are looking at here, which is very important, is the extension of the RPZs for another year while we look at what other rent controls might be introduced. We are using the Bill as a vehicle to do that. Everyone will agree this is the right thing to do. I have already flagged that we will provide legislative certainty in that regard.

On the addition of the reference to the Land Development Agency Act 2021 to the Title, this particularly deals with the LDA and owners' management companies, OMCs. It allows for an amendment to enable them to operate within multi-unit developments. The LDA now has cost-rental properties. This is a specific amendment that needs to be included. Likewise, I am sure every Deputy in the House will agree to the addition of the reference to the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009 to the Title. It deals with National Asset Residential Property Service, NARPS, properties and their transfer to NAMA.

Deputy Matthews referred to the extensive work that was done by the committee. I thanked the committee members earlier, in their absence, for the work they did and their detailed engagement. I also acknowledged the work of the officials. This is significant legislation. In no way, shape or form has it been rushed. In September 2021, we started a 15-month comprehensive review of the Planning and Development Act 2000. We had nine sessions of pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill was published in January 2023 and there followed detailed scrutiny of it. We have been working on it since November 2023, when the Bill was approved by the Government and commenced in the Dáil. Over the course of February, March and April, we had 22 sessions of the committee in which we considered and responded to more than 1,000 proposed amendments. As the Deputy said, this involved more than 120 hours of debate and 328 voting divisions. It is fair to say the level of scrutiny by all members of the committee has been exceptional.

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