John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Government takes plenty of flak for many things but it certainly cannot be accused of not taking this matter very seriously. It is implementing a fix to what has become an issue. It is clear, as others have said, that asking students to pay for out-of-term accommodation is not appropriate.

The Bill seeks to introduce three main measures. The first is that landlords cannot charge more than one month's rent in advance. The second is that leases cannot be for longer than 41 weeks except in cases where it is otherwise agreed by both parties, with penalties of up to €15,000 for breaches of this measure. The third is to enable a tenant to issue a termination notice between 1 May and 1 October. Essentially, this means a double protection has been implemented in this regard, with a tenant now being able to issue a month's notice on 1 May, so that come the end of the term, the notice of termination will have been issued.

The Bill is welcome and I have no doubt it will receive the full support of the House. The fact that we are moving at such speed with it shows the level of urgency the Government and Department have attached to it. I reiterate the call made by the Minister of State, on behalf of the Government, that existing providers of student-specific accommodation that already have licences and tenancies in place for students offer those students the opportunity to avail of updated terms and conditions in line with this legislation, as they have been advised to do by the Government. Obviously, the legal advice is that this measure is forward-looking. I understand and appreciate that but it is simply wrong that students would be charged for out-of-term accommodation. It cannot be justified on any level. I certainly hope that any of the providers that have engaged in this practice will review the licences and agreements they have with students and offer them updated terms in line with the provisions of this legislation. That is the most important message we can send from the House today. The legislation will have to be forward-looking.

It will not be the case from now but there is an onus on providers to take it upon themselves to see that the practice is inappropriate and to put the right steps in place. I commend the Bill to the House and I am sure it will have the full support of Members.