Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The debate is not being guillotined. I am absolutely at the disposal of the House and will be here until the early hours of morning to get through every issue in detail, if that is what Members. It is not a problem. On the timing, I do not want to be in this position with Members; as I said, I do not think it is fair on them. Senator Murnane O'Connor defends better and more eloquently than I could the amount of time that has already gone into this Bill and its scrutiny by the House.

To come to the point about deposits, it is not that anyone disagrees that it should only be a month's deposit. It is the recognition that this is the definition of a deposit that is incomplete. While we might pass it and think we have done a good job to protect tenants who are being done by landlords who are looking for more than a month's deposit, it will not protect them at all because landlords can step around it by charging them a month's deposit and two months' rent. Therefore, as we move to define what is meant by a deposit and consider a deposit protection scheme, issues to do with viewing money, even if it was perhaps a false concern, and key money can be looked at in their totality. While we could pass something to give us comfort in order that we could feel better that we had stood up for people and could believe a month's deposit was reflected in legislation, unless it will make a practical difference, I do not see the purpose in bringing it forward. It is not that anyone disagrees with the motivation behind the amendment; it is just that, on its own, it would not work. To go back to my earlier point, it is a political choice to say rent pressure zones, rent caps and short-term letting are greater priorities. Because we focused on them we were not able to focus on this issue at the same time in this legislation.

On Senator Murnane O'Connor's point about the report, from the point of view of what is good or bad legislation, it is not good legislative practice to insert into legislation phrases such as "a report will be produced in six months' time".Legislation is the law of the land. This legislation relates to how we intend to regulate the rental sector. I am giving a commitment to get the report done because it needs to inform the next legislation in any case. That was recognised by Fianna Fáil when it withdrew the amendment it had proposed in the Lower House. I hope the Seanad can do the same.