Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their consideration of the Bill and their contributions on Second Stage. I thank them for taking us through the Final Stages.

As I explained previously, the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2013 is a technical Bill making minor changes to section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 so that we can effectively implement a new and more harmonised system of local authority rents. There are two amendments to section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, with the first remedying an error in the text of section 31(5)(a) that prevents the provisions of section 31 from being brought into operation in a logical and effective sequence. This will ensure that a clear statutory basis exists for housing authorities to charge rent for dwellings during the transition from the existing rents regime to the new rents system.

The second amendment deletes from section 31(6) references to rent-setting criteria that conflict with the rent system where charges are determined largely on the basis of household composition and income. I am fully in favour of local authority rents being linked to household income and I therefore propose to delete from the enactment references to specific rent-setting criteria other than income.

There will be a number of housing Bills coming before the House in the autumn and the next Bill will provide, among other elements, a new housing assistance payments scheme administered by housing authorities, which will replace rent supplement in the case of households with a long-term housing need. That will be a much more substantial piece of legislation than what we are dealing with today. I thank the Senators for their speedy implementation of the detail of the legislation and their contributions.