asked the Minister for Justice when it is expected that the Commission examining ground rents will make its report; and if he is satisfied with the progress of the Commission's work to date.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ground Rents Commission.
34.
When I set up the Landlord and Tenant Commission I asked them to prepare, as a matter of urgency, an Interim Report on the working of Part III of the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931, which relates to occupational tenancies. Subsequently, in response to representations made during the passage of the Ground Rents Bill through this House, I asked the Commission to take up the question of extending rights of purchase to other categories of lessees as soon as they had completed their report on occupational tenancies. I recently received this report, which is a comprehensive document. It is now being printed and will shortly be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
Since completing this Report the Commission have been engaged on hearing evidence on the question of extending the rights of purchase given by the Ground Rents Act. I am not in a position to say when their report on this aspect will be received.
The answer to the last part of the Deputy's question is in the affirmative.
Is the Minister aware that at the moment, despite recent legislation, people are forced to continue paying ground rent to landlords, many of them living in Britain and elsewhere, and can he not put an end to this situation?
The Act covers all ground rents, but the particular rents to which the Deputy is referring are not ground rents in the legal sense. However, they are rents to which I have directed the attention of the Landlord and Tenant Commission with a view to their inclusion and possibly the inclusion of other categories in the purchase scheme.
Does the Minister see any prospect of protecting these people retrospectively, say, over a period of a year or two?
It is a matter which we shall have to look at.