Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I support what my two Fine Gael colleagues have said. I appreciate the Minister is paying serious attention to this Bill. I am also conscious he may be making proposals on Seanad reform and I therefore advise my colleagues to tread carefully with him. All our futures may be in his hands. The Minister appreciates we are approaching this legislation with a view to clarifying some of the points of confusion and bringing about improvements, where necessary.

The Bill started off small but has attracted public interest. One or two anomalies have been brought to our attention over the past day or two. One brought to my attention and that of most of my colleagues today relates to properties to which a right of residence attaches. A property may be vacant but the elderly parent or sibling of the owner might have a right of residence in the house. Once there is such a right, the property cannot be sold or made available for letting. What is the Minister's intention regarding such properties. There is a substantial number of them across the country. The anomaly may not be fully covered by the amendment. What is the Minister's thinking and has he proposals to deal with the matter?

Can I take advantage of this opportunity, perhaps unfairly, to ask the Minister to comment on an issue I raised yesterday, namely, properties that have been repossessed by financial institutions and let to the former mortgagees? The Minister did not get to comment on these in his Second Stage reply. It is becoming more prevalent that financial institutions, rather than repossessing mortgagees' homes and evicting them therefrom, are entering into rental agreements with them. I presume the bank would own the house in such cases. Will financial penalties be applied in such cases?

There is some confusion over ground rent. I am by no means an expert on the matter. A significant number of properties in some towns and villages are subject to ground rent. Is there a need for clarification of the duties of the property owners? In Mallow, ground rent is still being paid or is theoretically owed to persons no longer resident in the jurisdiction. Is the Minister in a position to clarify the position on the obligations of owners of properties to which ground rent attaches?