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

I will respond for a final time on this section. I am not asking anyone to "take a punt". The RTB is not looking to do this. We are trying to manage a change management programme for the RTB to make it a robust regulator for landlords and tenants alike. We are trying to build a new rental sector that is more mature and more European. I have looked at every aspect of everything that may or may not be needed down the line, including the potential for us to have to come back and change the law. It is right that the legislative process is a lengthy one. When laws are made and changed, they have implications outside this House that can reverberate for a number of years. This is not necessarily the kind of issue on which one wants to have to come back to the House if there is support for something that needs to be done. The provision that is being put in is one that the RTB would have at its disposal at a future date if it wanted to avail of it. If it decides to do so, it will need to obtain the consent of the Minister. It is appropriate that such a check or balance is there, because it will prevent the RTB from going off and doing this on its own.