Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

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 two arguments. The landlords wanted a much longer probationary period and advocate groups such as Threshold wanted a shorter one. This issue was discussed at length by the commission and it agreed on six months. To change this would undermine one of the core principles that helped to achieve the consensus that exists. We have been trying to proceed in such a way that landlord and tenant groups regard this as a balanced Bill to which both could sign up and such that the advantages to both sets of groups are evident.

Over the years, tenants' rights have been lacking, to put it mildly. This Bill is not as good as the legislation in many European countries, but it is a major step forward from previous legislation. I hope that in the coming years people will move forward another step from what is proposed.

Amendment No. 13 seeks that landlords should provide a written explanation for ending a tenancy within the six-month period. However, it is fundamental to the legislation that landlords be given six months in which they have the right to terminate a tenancy without providing a written explanation. This is part of a very fine balance which, if changed, would undermine one of the core principles of the Bill and, therefore, I cannot accept the amendment.