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Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 14 Dec 1960

Vol. 53 No. 5

Rent Restrictions (No. 2) Bill, 1960. ( Seanad Bill amended by Dáil ): Report and Final Stages.

Government amendment No. 1:
In page 7, line 46, to add to the paragraph "and, in determining as aforesaid the notional rent of any other dwelling, ‘(being dwellings to which Chapter 2 of Part II of the Act of 1946 applied)' shall be regarded as being so contained in that subsection.

This amendment, and amendment No. 2, are in the nature of drafting amendments and are consequential on the deletion from subsection (2) of Section 9 of the Bill of the words "being dwellings to which Chapter 2 of Part II of the Act of 1946 applied". The object of that amendment was to give the courts when determining the basic rent for a dwelling which was not let on 31st December, 1960, discretion to have regard to the basic rents of any comparable dwellings whether or not they were controlled under Chapter 1 or Chapter 2 of Part II of the Act of 1946. However, it is necessary to retain these words in subsection (2) of Section 9 for the purpose of deciding under Section 8 whether a basic rent automatically fixed under Section 7 is excessively low or excessively high.

It appears, on further consideration, that the consequential amendments already made in Section 8 may not have achieved this object. The two amendments now before the House will ensure that the provisions of Section 8 will not have been changed in substance by the amendment to Section 9 so that the criterion to be applied by the courts in operating the provisions of Section 8 will continue to be the Chapter 2, or 1941, level of rents, except in the case of dwellings which have remained under control since 1915 where the application for revision of the rent is made by the landlord or by a tenant whose dwelling has a rateable valuation not exceeding £10. In such cases, the criterion will be the 1914 level of rents.

Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 2:
In page 8, line 15, to add to the subparagraph "and, in the case of any other dwelling, `(being dwellings to which Chapter 2 of Part II of the Act of 1946 applied)' shall be regarded as being so contained in that subsection."
Amendment agreed to.
Bill, as amended, received for final consideration.
Agreed to take remaining Stages today.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."

I should like to say, in welcoming this Bill back again to the Seanad, that I am particularly pleased to see among the amendments made in the Dáil some that were strongly urged on the Minister in this House and, indeed, one on which he already conceded here some of the matter asked for. I am thinking among others of the amendment that relates to an adopted or illegitimate person having to have been living for not less than six years with the tenant before benefiting from the provisions of the Act. I am very glad that the Minister has finally agreed to drop this provision entirely. It is pleasant for the Seanad to see now that, between Dáil and Seanad, it has proved possible to make these valuable changes.

Question put and agreed to.
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