Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

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 to terminate the tenancy where consent to subletting is refused.

We are talking about a case where a house or an apartment is let to a tenant and he or she wants to move away and sublet it to someone else. In such circumstances, the landlord has an absolute right to say no to such a subletting. The landlord would never have met the person whom it is proposed would move in. It is different if the person concerned was living in the property. For example, if I and one of the Senators were living in a property and I, as the licensee decided to move away, that would be a different situation because the landlord would know the Senator and he would have partaken in an apprenticeship. The same would apply if I was living in an apartment and then shared it with one of the Senators. If the landlord had a problem with the Senator, the landlord has a means of redress by approaching me because the original tenant is still on site. However, what is proposed relates to a case where, say, a tenant moves to live in London and sublets the property to someone else who is unknown to the landlord. In such a case it is only right and proper that a landlord can refuse consent to such a subletting and if he does so, the tenant has a right to end the tenancy.

With regard to amendment No. 8, it is clear that the provision is intended to cover only those for whom their rented dwelling is their principal place of residence. We are not being ridiculous here. Nobody wants to know about who stays overnight, over a week or anything like that, or if a person is visiting for a few nights and is not changing his or her place of residence. It is up to the person concerned to decide if he or she is visiting for two or three nights or changing his or her place of residence. If a person is changing his or her place of residence, it is appropriate that the person should let the landlord know.