Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Dec 1935

Vol. 20 No. 20

Land Purchase (Guarantee Fund) Bill, 1935—Committee of Privileges. - Rents of Occupying Tenants—Proposed Tribunal.

Minister for Lands (Mr. Connolly)

I move:—

That it is expedient that a tribunal be established for inquiring into a definite matter of urgent public importance, that is to say:—

(a) whether any, and if so what, hardships and abuses arise or are capable of arising under the existing law governing the letting on occupation tenancies at occupation rents of houses and parts of houses in cities, towns, and villages where the house or the part so let is used by the occupier thereof wholly or partly as a dwellinghouse, and

(b) if any such hardships or abuses are found to arise or to be capable of arising, what additions to or amendments of the said existing law are practicable and desirable to remove or modify such hardships and abuses or to prevent the same from arising.

Mr. Quirke

I second.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Ruttledge)

The terms of this motion are explicit. It asks the House to set up a tribunal to inquire into a matter which is regarded as of urgent public importance. Representations were made to the Executive Council and to my Department with regard to grievances of town tenants that it is alleged arise under the existing law. As the representations made and the details furnished were too vague and too incomplete, an opportunity is required to have them examined by a competent tribunal. The details furnished to us were in such a form as would not warrant the Executive Council introducing legislative proposals. The terms of this motion restrict the scope of the tribunal it is proposed to set up to what is commonly known as occupying tenants. They will include, as well as ordinary occupying tenants of houses, occupiers of tenements, flats and so on. The representations so far made; in the overwhelming majority of cases, bear on that particular problem. It is because this is regarded as an urgent and a serious matter that the motion is brought before this House. This tribunal is regarded as being likely to give more satisfactory results than an ordinary commission of inquiry, as it will have the same powers as a High Court with regard to securing the attendance of witnesses, the production of documents and the taking of evidence on oath. The tribunal will probably consist of a legal man—either a judge, senior counsel, or some other lawyer of standing—as chairman, with a representative of the Department of Justice, the Department of Local Government and Public Health and of the Valuation Office. The Dáil has approved of this motion.

Mr. Johnson

I do not want to deal with the general purport of this motion, but I want again, as I did previously, to refer to the form in which the tribunal is set up. I have no doubt it is a very convenient form but it is surely stretching the Act very considerably to set up a tribunal on a plea in this form, that this is a matter of urgent public importance. We know that the Act under which tribunals were set up was enacted to deal with the matters of urgency and of immediate public importance—very urgent matters, which had suddenly arisen and that required to be dealt with rapidly. Numbers of inquiries of this kind were not urgent in the sense that the Act contemplated. This is a very useful device but, as to whether "urgent" here implies that the tribunal should make these inquiries between now and the new year, which would be implicit in the proposal, I very much doubt, and I suggest for the consideration of the Minister and his colleagues that some new formula should be adopted and new powers taken. This form is using the phraseology of an Act not intended to deal with this kind of inquiry.

Question put and agreed to.