Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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431. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to review the possibility of introducing legalisation to tackle the issue of upward only rent reviews; if she is not able to do this, will she look at the possibility of holding a referendum to tackle such reviews; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28428/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It will be recalled that the Government made the difficult decision in December 2011 not to proceed with the commitment in the Programme for Government to abolish upward only rent reviews in so called "legacy leases", i.e., those entered into before 28 February 2010. There was a substantial concern that any legislative scheme involving interference in the contractual relationships of private parties would find it extremely difficult to survive a Constitutional challenge. In addition, the Government was advised that any model proposed would require the payment of compensation to landlords whose rights were infringed in order to ensure that the proposal would be compatible with the Constitution and with the European Convention on Human Rights. The situation has not changed since 2011 and, as has been indicated in replies to previous Parliamentary Questions on the subject of upward only rent review clauses, there are no plans to re-examine the decision which was taken in 2011, nor are any plans to have a referendum on this matter.