Results 2,601-2,620 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I shall speak to both amendments and to the wider points as well but I do not want to repeat myself. In terms of the debate we have been having about vacant possession or tenants in situand removing this part of the Bill, the advice I have received is that it is not constitutional. Further advice I received was that, even if it were constitutional, it would not be retrospective so it would...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputies. I will start with the last point. In our engagements with this committee, non-governmental organisations and others we try to see if a targeted intervention could make a difference. On refinement, the NGO amendment focused solely on institutional investors. That captures buy-to-let properties and, as we know, the buy-to-let market is not like a traditional...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Amendment No. 52 to section 56 of the 2004 Act is consequential to amendments Nos. 40 and 41, which amend sections 34 and 35 of the Act. These oblige a landlord to offer the former tenant a reletting of the dwelling where a contract to sell is not entered into within nine months of the end of a tenancy terminated on the ground of intent to sell. There are many technical details here, but...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I do not agree but there is a chance to review the operation of this in two years, in year 3 of the operation, to see what the impact has been.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: This is the first of six Government amendments, Nos. 55 to 60 inclusive, which amend the new section 66(2A) of the Act, inserted by section 7 of the Bill, to make the subsection applicable to termination notices served by tenants as well as by landlords. It is the same issue but applying it to tenants as well.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: This amendment is a technical amendment, consequent upon amendment No. 55. Amendment Nos. 56 to 60 all relate to that provision.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: No.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: That is to provide-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: -----that purpose-built student accommodation be brought within the scope of that Act, in amendment No. 3, inserting the new section 3(1A) and a minimum notice period of 28 days.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: That amendment relates to amendment No. 55.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Amendment No. 62 is our proposal to insert the new table with the new notice periods. We proposed a period in the initial Bill. We have done further work with the committee, NGOs and others since and are inserting longer periods now. We have further strengthened those provisions and amendment No. 62 deletes and replaces the table with the new table as proposed.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I cannot support that amendment. It goes too far in light of the fact that a tenant who has only been in a residence fewer than six months would then be given a further three months. That is unfair.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: We have had a series of engagements with the RTB and I know that rent arrears is a significant issue and, in fact, a number of cases that come before the RTB for dispute resolution relate to rent arrears. We have measures, through social protection, to help with rent arrears. I have agreement from the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to see if we can do more to target...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I will take amendments Nos. 176 and 177 together because the first is a technical amendment to Schedule 2 to include as improper conduct by a landlord, for the purposes of the new part 7A of the Act, false or misleading citations of termination grounds in termination notices and failure to make re-letting offers where required to do so. It is consequent to amendment No. 41 and it is about...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: That is correct and my amendment No. 177 captures amendments Nos. 179 and 180.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Tenancies of indefinite duration is the first issue on which the Deputy spoke. It is the Government's policy to move to tenancies of indefinite duration. As I outlined last year when I was bringing this Bill forward, that is one of the measures we wish to address in the next rent Bill. It is also where we will be addressing the issue of receivership that we discussed with Deputy Boyd...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: We have been considering it. The Deputy was speaking in the Chamber earlier. I stated previously that we were going to do a number of things in this Bill and a number of things in the next Bill. We have added many things to this Bill and we did that on the basis of priority and what is needed now, such as in respect of extending rent pressure zones, closing down perceived loopholes and so...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Amendment No. 17 addresses section 19 of the 2004 Act to remove the exemption from the maximum permitted rent increase of 4% per annum for dwellings in rent pressure zones that were not in the rental sector in the two years prior to the commencement of the letting of the dwelling. The expiry of the RPZ by virtue of amendment No. 33 will occur on 31 December 2021 so the application of the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Yes. What we had previously has been called a loophole, but it is not a loophole but how the law was designed in the first instance. If somebody had a property that did not come under the RPZ because it was a new property, and this was put in place to encourage more investment and more building in the rental sector, not only would it not be captured by the RPZ in the first letting, as it...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (11 Apr 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It protects the people Deputy Boyd Barrett wishes to protect. It is another radical move by the Minister.