Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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661. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the legislative proposals his Department is working on to secure the rights of sitting tenants in buy-to-let homes being repossessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31136/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sector recognises that receivership and repossession processes in relation to rented dwellings can cause confusion and distress to tenants.  It is essential, in such circumstances, that the rights of tenants are protected. While the circumstances of each case may vary, depending on the terms of the mortgage or charge under which a receiver is appointed, the appointment of a receiver should not affect the ability of tenants to vindicate their statutory or contractual rights under the Residential Tenancies Act.

However, the interplay between receivership law and the Residential Tenancies Act is complex.  Recognising this, the Strategy for the Rental Sector committed my Department to establishing an Inter-Departmental Working Group to explore the scope for the obligations of landlords to transfer to receivers and for amending legislation to provide for greater protection of tenants’ rights during the receivership process. The objective is to ensure that persons appointed as receivers will be required to fulfil the obligations of a landlord.

Following the Government's endorsement of the Strategy, the Working Group was established in February, chaired by my Department, with representatives from the Departments of Finance; Justice and Equality; Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; and from the Office of the Attorney General.

The Working Group's Terms of Reference are to examine:

- the law governing the appointment of receivers to rented dwellings;

- the types of receiver that can be appointed to a rented dwelling;

- the effect of the appointment of a receiver on the rights of a tenant under a tenancy;

- the powers of a receiver appointed to a rented dwelling; and

- the scope for amending legislation to provide that the obligations of landlords transfer to receivers appointed to rented dwellings, and whether any such amendment could apply retrospectively.

The Working Group has just finalised an interim report, producing findings in terms of:

- the definition and scale of the issues to be addressed in any legislative amendment;

- the objectives of such legislative change; and

- the application of the legislation and the identification of the obligations to be transferred from landlords to receivers.

On receipt of further legal advice, the Working Group intends to produce its final report with findings and recommendations in relation to the feasibility, nature and content of legislative change.