: I welcome the initiative taken by the Deputies from Cork who have represented all the representatives of the Cork region. I am aware of the problems. They are not particular to Cork but they are acute in the Cork area because of some of the points made by Deputy Wallace.
In relation to the rents tribunal I want to repeat the commitment made by the Taoiseach here on the Order of Business some weeks ago to the effect that legislation to establish these tribunals will be introduced between April 20 and when we rise for the summer recess. The outline of that legislation has already been signalled by me in a public statement and we are now in the process of having it finalised. I recognise fully, as everybody else in this Chamber recognises, that it was the clear intention of the legislators in the making of the legislation the second time around that section 13 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982 should be interpreted in such a manner as to ensure that market rent described in the way that Deputy O'Sullivan described it is not applied. I am aware of the delicate and independent relationship between the Oireachtas and the courts, but I am also aware that perhaps section 13 is not being interpreted in the way that the legislators wanted it to be interpreted. If that is the case we should look at that and see if clarity can be obtained on both sides. I will take very seriously the request by Deputy Allen to see in what manner, and without in any way interfering with the due process of the courts, the interpretation of section 13 can be properly applied. That interpretation, mind you, extends as much to the solicitors acting on behalf of the defendent tenants as it does to anybody else within the process.
The desire to decriminalise the process of the fixing of rents is one to which we are very committed. For that reason, I accept the request of Deputy Wallace to locate the rents tribunals in a non-legal environment. I want to emphasise what I mean by the word "decriminalise". I am aware in my own constituency of an 87 year old woman who had to get in to the witness box and be cross examined under oath about the house in which she had lived practically all her life. For a person like that to find herself in court at all is a presumption of some kind of guilt. Therefore, it is better to establish rent tribunals in an informal and non-threatening manner so that the kind of terrorism to which Deputy Allen refers does not exist.
I should like to tell Deputy Wallace that there is a commitment to review the relationship of social welfare payments to the rent subsidies. This commitment I repeat again. Increases in social welfare payments will not prevent people, in cases where they would otherwise have qualified for rent subsidies, from qualifying for those subsidies after the increases in social welfare payments take effect.
I want to put on record, as the Minister of State responsible for introducing this legislation, that I am aware of the concern that has been expressed. I would hope that the courts in the general manner would take note of what we have said today, and of what has been said during the passage of the Bill last July so that the proper relationship between what the legislators want, on the one hand, and what the courts have to administer on the other is clearly seen and that our intentions are clearly seen. I will take the representations that have been made and bring them to the notice of the Minister for Justice to enable him to handle it in the manner that is appropriate for his jurisdiction.
I will make my own personal commitment to introduce the legislation here as quickly as possible and to establish the tribunals as quickly as possible throughout the country. It is envisaged that each local housing authority will have a rents officer who, in the first instance, will be the person who will fix the rent and in the event of either party not being satisfied with the proposed rent they will then have the right to appeal to the rents tribunal and the rents tribunal will be a panel modelled on the Employment Appeals Tribunal under the aegis of the Department of Labour and will be mobile and capable of locating itself in different venues throughout the country so as to bring justice and equity on the question of rents to the people rather than as at present bringing people into the District Court when in many cases the courts are not the correct venue for this.
During the passing of the legislation the Minister of the day, Deputy Burke, accepted the argument in principle for rents tribunals, but due to pressure of time was unable to introduce it at that stage. This is a matter where there is all-party agreement. That gives me confidence to believe we can get the legislation enacted before the end of the summer session.
