asked the Minister for Justice whether, in view of the number of complaints made in regard to the rents charged for houses, he will consider the advisability of setting up a fair rents tribunal, as has been done in Great Britain.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fair Rents Tribunal.
Under the Rent Restrictions Act, 1946, the great majority of houses in the country are controlled and the rents which may be charged for them are restricted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act and cannot be arbitrarily increased. I presume, therefore, that the Deputy's question has reference to houses that are not controlled under the 1946 Act and, in particular, to houses that have been erected since 1941, which were expressly excluded from the scope of that Act.
On the question of extending control, I would refer the Deputy to my replies to questions asked by Deputy McGrath on the 2nd June last and by Deputy Cowan on the 13th instant, in the course of which I made it plain that, pending a review of the position generally which it will be necessary to undertake before the Act of 1946 expires at the end of next year, it was not proposed to legislate for the extension of control to houses or premises that are outside the scope of existing legislation.
As regards the Deputy's reference to a fair rents tribunal in Great Britain, I would like to say, merely in order to correct any erroneous impressions that this reference might create, that so far as I am aware there is no such thing in Great Britain as a fair rent tribunal in the sense in which that expression is commonly understood. The only special rent tribunals that have been established in Great Britain are those concerned solely with the rents of furnished dwellings and these are not fair rent tribunals in the strict sense. Generally speaking, rents in Great Britain are controlled by a rent restrictions code which is very much of a piece with our own law in this matter and which is administered, as is our code, through the machinery of the ordinary courts.