I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 27:—
In page 22, Section 40, at the end of the section a new sub-section as follows inserted:—
(5) Where, on or after the operative date, controlled premises are lawfully assigned by the statutory tenant (in this sub-section referred to as the assignor), then, in the absence of any express agreement between the landlord and the assignee, the following provisions shall have effect:—
(a) if the premises are, at the date of the assignment, being lawfully used wholly or in part for the purposes of any business, trade or profession, the assignee shall, from the said date, be deemed to hold the premises in accordance with whichever of the following sub-paragraphs is applicable:—
(i) in case evidence is forthcoming that the premises were, immediately before the creation of the statutory tenancy therein, held by the contractual tenant thereof under a tenancy from year to year or for a term of years or other certain period (not being less than one year), or depending on the fall of a life or any other uncertain event, the assignee shall be deemed to hold the premises from the landlord under a tenancy from year to year, terminable, on or after the expiration of the first year thereof, by either party by two months' notice expiring on a gale day and, subject thereto, on the same terms and conditions as the assignor;
(ii) in case evidence is forthcoming that the premises were so held under a contract of tenancy to which sub-paragraph (i) of this paragraph does not relate, the assignee shall be deemed to hold the premises from the landlord under a contract of tenancy of like duration as the contract of tenancy under which they were so held, and, subject thereto, on the same terms and conditions as the assignor;
(iii) in any other case, the assignee shall be entitled to retain possession of the premises on the same terms and conditions as the assignor;
(b) if the premises are premises to which paragraph (a) of this sub-section does not relate, the assignee shall be entitled to retain possession of the premises on the same terms and conditions as the assignor.
This amendment is consequential on amendment No. 25 in order to define the conditions under which the assignee of a statutory tenant's interests should hold the premises from the landlord. Briefly, the main object of the somewhat elaborate provisions of this new amendment is to secure that the assignee will not hold the premises on any better terms than were enjoyed by the tenant holding under the contract of tenancy which subsisted immediately before the statutory tenancy was created in the premises. Accordingly, in the case of business premises, sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) provides that where the contract of tenancy had been a yearly tenancy or better, the assignee shall be deemed to hold the premises from the landlord on a tenancy from year to year, terminable on or after the expiration of the first year by two months' notice.
This latter provision will ensure, having regard to the provision of paragraph (f) of Section 3 (2), that the premises shall remain subject to control. If it was left to three months it would be outside control. Where the premises were not originally held under a yearly or better tenancy, sub-paragraph (ii) provides that the assignee shall be deemed to hold under a contract of tenancy of like duration as the original contract. Thus, if the original contract were a weekly tenancy, the assignee will hold as a weekly tenant. Sub-paragraph (iii) provides that, in any very exceptional case which might not be covered by the other two sub-paragraphs, the assignee shall hold the premises as a statutory tenant. Paragraph (b) deals with dwelling-houses and there, principally because of the fact that there can be no valuable consideration as a condition of the assignment of a statutory tenant's interest in such premises, it is simply provided that the assignee shall hold as a statutory tenant.