Results 481-500 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I appreciate the Senator's comments but the reverse is the case nowadays. It was a requirement under many previous Bills that documents had to be served through registered post. However, life has changed and the use of registered post to serve notices has been deliberately omitted from this legislation and other legislation in recent times. For example, serving summonses is no longer done...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I do not consider that the proposed amendment to increase the fine per day is warranted. The legal advice is that there is no particular standard for daily fines. The amount prescribed in the Bill which, as the Senator says, is up to €250 per day, is in line with other legislation. I accept there may be higher amounts in other Acts but that is the daily fine outlined in the legislation. We...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I sympathise with the concerns expressed by the Senator but including a specific requirement and imposing a duty on landlords to ensure fitness for habitation is not really necessary. It is not the practice to insert into one legislative measure an obligation to comply with another legislative measure. Statutory requirements are imposed once only and once they are imposed they should and must...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I am sympathetic to the Senator. In recent years, with the huge demand for housing and higher population levels, there has been pressure on the housing market. There is no doubt that some landlords have let out accommodation which is not very suitable. The best way to improve standards is to improve supply, which is what we have tried to do. Last year 68,000 new housing units were completed...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: These regulations are enforced through local authorities, not directly by the Department. Having been a member of a local authority for some years, however, I do not wish to be overly critical of them. The issue fundamentally is one of supply and we have gone through a few years during which there was a shortage of accommodation. The issue of students seeking proper accommodation was raised...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: Some 14,000 or 15,000 bed spaces are provided under the campus and off campus schemes, some of which are located in north Dublin. Until now, local authorities have been responsible for many issues such as standards, registration and so on. This legislation proposes to establish the new tenancies board, which will take over responsibility for registration from local authorities, although it...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I have already amended section 18 in the Dáil to clarify that additional obligations on a tenant by means of a lease or tenancy agreements may only be imposed if consistent with the Bill. A landlord may not transfer to the tenant any of his or her statutory obligations under the Bill. As the matter was discussed in the Dáil and section 18 makes the provisions Senator Bannon seeks to...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: While I agree with the Senator on those issues, the particular amendments with which we are dealing concern the possibility of a landlord transferring to a tenant his or her statutory obligations, which is already covered by section 18. Amendment No. 5 was tabled on Committee Stage in the Dáil and dealt with in another way and I ask the Senator to consider withdrawing it.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: It would not be beneficial to insert examples of a few matters that might be deemed to involve penalisation. There is a danger that the insertion of such examples might detract from the effectiveness of the provision. Section 14, as it stands, provides the most comprehensive definition of penalisation possible in terms of any action that adversely affects the tenant enjoying peaceful...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I do not intend to accept them. The absolute right to withhold consent to subletting was recommended by the Commission on the Private Rented Residential Sector. It is appropriate in the context of the four years' security of tenure provided under this Bill and because it is accompanied by a provision in section 186 whereby tenants bound by a fixed term agreement are given the absolute right...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: The amendments pertain to one of the most fundamental parts of the Bill and I am not in a position to accept them. The Bill lays down clearly that a probationary period of six months applies before one can qualify for a further three and a half years of security of tenure. The six month qualifying period was recommended by the commission and it represented a reasonable compromise between the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I appreciate and understand the point of the amendment but it is not necessary as its purpose is achieved more effectively by other provisions in the Bill, including some amendments tabled in the other House. The Deputy is proposing a prohibition, worded in very broad terms, of any action for the purpose of avoiding the application of Part 4. The amendment is too general. It is also in...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I have information which might help the Members. Section 39 originally provided that on the death of all the tenants of a Part 4 tenancy, the Part 4 tenancy would no longer exist. When this section was discussed on Committee Stage in the Dáil, considerable concern was expressed by Deputies as to the position in the case of dependent family members where the sole tenant had died. I pointed...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: If they fail to make a joint agreement at the outset, they should do so during the existence of the deceased person's tenancy.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: In that case, I cannot accept the amendment.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I tried to explain earlier how this came about. Originally, the section provided that on the death of all the tenants of a Part 4 tenancy, the Part 4 tenancy would no longer exist. When this was discussed on Committee Stage in the Dáil, considerable concern was expressed by Deputies about the position of dependent family members when a tenant dies. The advice I would offer to all people in...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I have outlined the history of this legislation and the debate in the other House. It is wrong for anyone to interpret it in the manner outlined. It was not designed to exclude any particular group. This is a good Bill which is moving forward the situation of tenants' rights. I am not suggesting it will last forever. I am sure different sections of the Bill will be improved as time passes....

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: There is well established case law in the area of licensing versus tenancy arrangements to which the board will be required to have regard when deciding whether to accept a dispute referral. The amendment is unnecessary and Senator Bannon's concerns are met by the Bill and by the relevant case law.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: The provisions of the proposed new section are covered by the well established case law which has been built up by the courts over the years and to which the private residential tenancies board must have regard. The Law Reform Commission is currently undertaking a review of landlord and tenant law which will have a bearing on this area in the future. Unless any of the exclusions in section 3...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Jul 2004)

Noel Ahern: I can repeat myself by reiterating that this protection is afforded by the case law——