: I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 1.
"Section 16: In subsection (2) (c), page 9, line 32, "fully" deleted and "substantially" substituted."
In the course of the Committee Stage debate in the Dáil on 11 April, as reported at columns 407 to 409 of the Official Report, Deputy O'Keeffe questioned the provision of section 16 (2) (c) of the Bill and wondered whether the intention underlying the provision would not be satisfied if the covenant mentioned in the provision were substantially complied with, rather than fully complied with, as was the requirement under the Bill as it stood. The Minister for Justice undertook to bring the point to the notice of the Landlord and Tenant Commission.
The proposed amendment arises from an ad hoc recommendation which the commission made to the Minister. The commission remarked that covenants were generally construed strictly against the persons who covenanted to perform certain acts and also pointed out covenants under which a lessee is obliged to build may take a variety of forms in that questions of construction depend upon the language used. It appeared to the commission that a number of lessees who would seem to have a moral right to purchase would be excluded under the provisions in section 16 (2) (c) as it stood. They recommended that a fair compliance with a covenant to build would be ensured if “substantially” were inserted and “fully” were deleted. That is, if the provision simply required that the covenant in question had been substantially rather than fully complied with. That is what is proposed in the amendment that was agreed by the Seanad. It arises from a recommendation by Deputy O'Keeffe.