Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for the update on the schedule for next week. Many of us have called for a debate on jobs and I appreciate the Leader's arranging these important debates with the Ministers and Minister of State.

I commend Senator Quinn on the passing of his Upward Only Rent (Clauses and Reviews) Bill 2013 yesterday. I know that many Senators on the other side of the House support the Bill but they did not see fit to vote for it. It is important that the Bill was passed. I hope that Fine Gael, in particular, will see through the commitment in its party manifesto prior to the 2011 general election which said the party would pass legislation to give all tenants the right to have their commercial rents reviewed in 2011, irrespective of upward-only or other review clauses. I know that manifesto promises do not really mean anything but this is an opportunity for Fine Gael to make good on its promise on this issue. Senator Quinn did a magnificent job yesterday and my party was only too happy to support him. The Bill has now passed in the Seanad, with the tacit assistance of the provisional Labour Party grouping of the three missing-in-action Senators. I note that they are not here this morning either, but I would say to those Senators that they would be better off voting for proposals that they support rather than just going missing.