I am pleased to bring before the Seanad this Bill which represents another important milestone in the advance of housing legislation in this country. It provides the legislative framework and authority for the housing policies that were spelled out in the Plan for Social Housing which was published last year.
The Social Housing Plan restates the long established objective of Government housing policy of ensuring that every household has a dwelling suitable to its needs, located in an acceptable environment, and at a price or rent that household can afford. The strategy to achieve this broad objective includes: promoting owner-occupation as the form of tenure preferred by most Irish people; developing and implementing a range of measures designed to address the wide and changing range of social housing needs; and mitigating, as far as possible, the extent and effect of social segregation in housing.
The thrust of the plan was agreed with the social partners in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. The plan, therefore, forms part of the agreed national strategy for economic and social development in the nineties.
The plan brings new thinking to bear on the ways we as a community respond to social housing needs. In this we must be conscious of the changing nature of housing needs and of the necessity to get the best value for money. Also, we must seek to help people to help themselves, to foster self-reliance instead of dependency and create greater choice in housing. Above all, we must learn from the lessons of the past. The range of innovative measures included in the plan is designed to provide a broader, more diverse response to social housing needs, to ease the path to home ownership for households of modest means and to improve the position of tenants in both the local authority and private rented sectors.
I want to reiterate at this point that there is a commitment in the plan and in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress to maintain the traditional local authority house building programme at an appropriate level having due regard to resources and to the impact of the alternative measures. The new measures in the plan are inteneded to complement that programme in a significant way.
It is not the Government's intention to return to local authority house building on the scale that obtained at times in the past or to the policy of building large schemes of public housing on greenfield sites. There are many compelling reasons we have to consider a more diverse approach. There are social reasons relating to the need to limit housing segregation and develop more socially mixed communities. There is a need to encourage people towards self-help and co-operative effort by making available appropriate subsidy schemes, to give them a choice about the kind of housing they want.
The high costs of the traditional approach to the public purse cannot be overlooked either. Here, I refer not just to the initial cost of providing the houses but, perhaps more significantly, to the ongoing cost burden which maintenance and management of local authority estates places on the taxpayer. It is salutary to reflect that the average new local authority house provided this year will be subsidised to the tune of £85 per week by the taxpayer.
The new social housing measures that could be operated in advance of legislation are already being implemented by the local authorities on the basis of interim arrangements devised by my Department. Initial doubts about the praticality of these interim arrangements, especially in relation to shared ownership, have proved to be unfounded.
While, generally, there has this year been a considerable pick-up in activity under the various new measures, I am still concerned at the uneven nature of the activity. Some local authorities have shown good progress and excellent initiative in availing of the measures and resources to really tackle the housing needs of their areas. However, others appear to have considerable difficulty in coming to grips with the plan and exploiting it to best effect and are not making the kind of progress I want to see.
To ensure that no authority is left behind, my Department will be arranging to meet as soon as possible with managers and other senior staff of those housing authorities who are having difficulties, to discuss with them what obstacles are hindering progress, to see how these obstacles can be overcome and to consider what further assistance can be given. In the meantime, my Department have requested authorities to carry out a mid-year review of their progress in implementing the new measures and to review progress on their housing programmes.
This year, as the plan measures show significant results, we can expect a substantial increase in the social housing provision. If the local authorities made full use of the various measures and resources at their disposal, we could cater for up to 7,000 households in 1992 — substantially more than last year. These global figures include local authority lettings and voluntary housing as well as the new measures. The enactment of the Bill, by providing proper statutory authority for these measures, should boost progress on the schemes already in operation by extending the ways in which they can work including the involvement of the private sector in crucial areas, such as shared ownership. It will, of course, also enable us to give effect to the other measures that it has not been possible to implement for legal reasons.
With the enactment of this Bill, the full corpus of primary housing legislation will be found in four housing Acts, namely, those of 1966, 1979,1988 and 1992. The Housing Act, 1966, is the foundation stone of modern housing legislation and provided the legal framework for our modern housing system.
The 1988 Act, for the first time in Irish housing legislation, made statutory provision to address the housing needs of homeless persons. It gave local authorities extensive and flexibile powers to deal with homelessness and it revised the law in relation to the planning, provision and allocation of local authority housing. It provided for full assessment of housing needs in a way that ensures that the needs of the homeless, travellers and other disadvantaged groups are taken into account. The fact that, in this Bill, we now have another major measure relatively soon after the important 1988 Act, shows that housing is an area of public policy that receives continuing attention; and that is as it should be.
I now want to make some comments to the House on the principal things this Bill seeks to do. I will start with shared ownership, which is a radical new concept in housing in this country. Following detailed consideration of the best means of giving effect to the concept of shared ownership, the system involving the granting by local authorities of a special type of lease, called a shared ownership lease, was introduced in the social housing plan. Specific legislative provision is needed for it as there has been a general prohibition on the granting of new leases for houses since the 1978 Landlord and Tenant Act, which prevented the creation of new ground rents. The Bill not alone provides a statutory authority for the granting of shared ownership by local authorities but also opens up the possibility of this form of tenure being offered by bodies other than housing authorities.
The need to find at the outset 100 per cent of the purchase price, by way of a loan and a substantial deposit, reduces, or even rules out altogether, the prospect of home ownership for many on lower incomes who would see it as their preferred form of tenure. By having to wait until they can afford conventional house purchase, such persons may not be able to go ahead until a stage when the cost might be much greater, or they may find that the opportunity to purchase continues to elude them. This is where shared ownership provides a solution.
The Bill will make the acquisition of a home of their own, through the shared ownership system a viable proposition for households who would otherwise have much less chance of realising their ambition. Shared ownership will give them the opportunity of selecting a house of their choice and going into occupation of it with a minimal deposit and with regular outgoings that are significantly less than under a conventional mortgage.
Section 2 contains the general power to grant shared ownership leases. It allows such a lease to be granted by any person and this would include a housing authority, a financial institution or a developer. It stipulates that the lease period must be between 20 and 100 years and that a payment of between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of the value of the house is made by the lessee for the lease. The lease must also confer on the lessee the right to purchase the lessor's interest in the house on terms determined in accordance with the lease itself.
The basic parameters, both in relation to the term of the lease and the proportion of the equity initially purchased, have been designed to ensure that the exemption from the ban on new leases is not used to facilitate the introduction of new ground rents. Only bona fide shared ownership transactions can avail of the exemption. The initial equity state of between 25 per cent and 75 per cent recognises that shared ownership is not a realistic option for a purchaser who is unable to raise at least one-quarter of the purchase price at the outset. Conversely, anyone who can put up over 75 per cent of the cost should be able to acquire a house in the ordinary way and should not need to go the shared ownership route.
Within these broad parameters, the details in individual cases, where the local authority is not the person granting the lease, will be worked out between the parties involved in accordance with their respective requirements.
Section 3 governs the granting of shared ownership leases by housing authorities. The detailed provisions of such leases, eligibility, etc., will be spelt out in regulations to be made by the Minister under this section. Senators will be familiar with the shared ownership system being operated by housing authorities under the interim arrangements already in force. Section 3 provides considerable flexibility for any changes in the terms of that system that might be considered desirable in the future.
Section 4 provides broad powers for the payment of subsidy towards rent payments by lower income households in shared ownership. Payment of rent is a feature of the system since the occupier under a shared ownership lease has only paid a portion of the value and is not the full owner. Therefore, it is open to the lessor — be it a local authority or other body — to charge a rent for occupation until the buy-out of the lease has been completed. The purpose of the subsidy is to bring access to shared ownership within the capacity of households on low incomes and also to provide a cushion for those in shared ownership who may suffer a drop in earnings. Under the current system, a shared owner with an income of under £10,000 is eligible for a graduated subsidy.
Up to 31 March last, local authorities had received a total of over 1,700 applications for shared ownership. Of these almost 600 had received approval in principle with the transactions having been completed in some 70 cases. While returns for the second quarter are not yet to hand the indications are that further solid progress in approving applications and completing transactions was achieved in that period.
Shared ownership is new to this country but it has worked successfully elsewhere. I believe it can also have an important role in our housing system. There is a commitment to review the operation of the current shared ownership system after we have had some initial experience of it.
As I have said, the essence of the social housing plan is to broaden the range of possible responses to different social housing needs. In the past, there tended to be the opposite approach, a basic reliance on one solution — the provision of new local authority housing — to meet all needs. This often involved moving people away from areas where they had crucial family support and ties. We are all aware of the social problems caused by the concentration of the most disadvantaged in particular locations.
As many as 45 per cent of approved applicants for local authority housing are from households living in unfit, unsuitable or overcrowded dwellings. Up to now, the option of upgrading or extending some of those dwellings as a socially desirable and cost effective alternative to providing local authority housing has not been available. Section 5 changes that and should, in future, enable some housing applicants to obtain decent accommodation in their existing environment, possibly a lot sooner than if they were to wait to be rehoused.
It is expressly provided that works to provide houses under this section may only be carried out if they result either in a housing applicant being removed from the waiting list or the surrender of an existing tenanted or tenant purchase house to the housing authority. This latter provision will help to overcome the often cited problem of elderly people occupying family type local authority houses that have become too big for them and who would go to live with their families if there were room for them. In return for giving up their local authority house they will now be entitled to ask the authority to build an extension or granny flat on to the house they are moving to. This could also work in reverse so that, for example, sons or daughters on a waiting list or willing to give up a local authority house could have an aged parent's house enlarged to enable them to look after the elderly person.
Up to 31 March last, housing authorities had identified some 400 houses as being suited to the improvements scheme and work has already been completed in a number of these. The take up rate on this scheme to date has been slower than might have been anticipated but the provisions in the Bill should help streamline the legal procedures which have been a source of delay to some housing authorities.
The voluntary housing movement makes a substantial contribution to social housing output catering for people who would otherwise be dependent on public housing or institutional care. Voluntary housing activity has increased very significantly in recent years. All the indications are that, with the appropriate support from public funds, the voluntary sector can play a greater part in the provision of social housing in the future.
Under the social housing plan, the levels of assistance to approved voluntary bodies providing residential accommodation with the aid of the existing capital assistance scheme have already been increased. This scheme has been particularly successful in securing housing for special categories, such as the elderly and the homeless and I expect that completions of dwellings aided under it will be about 550 this year.
In order to promote the expansion of voluntary activity into family housing, the plan announced the introduction of the new rental subsidy scheme. This scheme allows approved voluntary and non-profit housing organisations to obtain 100 per cent capital loan finance from local authorities for the provision of social housing. A subsidy is then payable to the body providing the accommodation to make up the deficit between the affordable rent payable by the tenant and the loan charges, with an allowance being made for maintenance and management costs.
Section 7 contains the provisions relating to the rental subsidy scheme. These leave the details of the scheme to be set out in regulations which may, of course, be changed from time to time. The subsidy has been introduced on an interim basis, being payable to voluntary bodies in respect of tenants on annual incomes of less than £8,000, and the response has been encouraging. One project is already completed, four projects containing 65 dwellings are in progress and some 24 more proposals around the country, worth over £15 million and representing an additional 450 units, are in planning. Some voluntary groups have suggested certain revisions to the terms of the pilot scheme and it has been indicated to them that these will be reviewed towards the end of the year in the light of experience.
Section 6 will permit the Minister to devolve to relevant housing authorities his function in relation to the approval of voluntary housing bodies. This would make it possible for new projects to be dealt with from conception to execution at local level — simplifying the whole process for individual organisations. In addition, the voluntary sector's expanding role is being acknowledged by the new facility in section 26 for the transfer of local authority houses to suitable voluntary bodies. This section could prove to be attractive, for example, to residents in elderly persons accommodation where the voluntary sector has an especially good track record of care and service.
The other side of non-profit housing is the co-operative movement — individuals coming together as a group to provide housing for themselves. Co-operative housing was reasonably successful up to the mid-1970s when about 500 houses were being produced annually but has since declined considerably. However, I believe that the various measures in the social housing plan have the potential, especially if used in a coordinated way, to revitalise the sector.
Section 11 provides for the provision by local authorities of block loans to co-operatives as opposed to loans to each individual member which will enable the co-operative to borrow up-front, for instance, to buy sites or to acquire existing buildings for conversion to housing. Local authorities are already free to dispose of sites to co-operatives at low or nominal cost, subject to certain conditions. The National Building Agency have also been given a brief to assist in the promotion of this form of housing.
Housing authorities have a long history of providing loan finance to persons of modest means. Under existing legislation they are confined to advancing loans to individuals and lack a desirable degree of flexibility.
With the primary objective of giving housing authorities broader, more flexible powers in making and administering housing loans, section 11 restates, in an improved and expanded form, the existing provisions. Their lending powers are being widened to include shared ownership, the acquisition of land or sites, the purchase or conversion into housing of a building, the provision of hostel accommodation and even the payment of deposits for the purchase of property for housing. The detailed conditions of loan schemes will continue to be set out in regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
Under section 11, the conveyancing Acts will apply to housing authorities in the same manner as other mortgagees. Householders with local authority loans will, as a result, be able to borrow from other lenders, for instance, for house improvements, on the security of a second mortgage. This is an important development for many existing holders of local authority loans whose incomes would now prevent them getting local authority house improvement loans. In addition, the section will remove any doubt about an authority's power to respond flexibility to borrowers in difficulty by capitalising arrears or extending the repayment period.
It is time for a reassessment of our approach to the management of public housing. The remedial works scheme has shown the benefits that can be gained from increased consultation and dialogue by local authorities with their tenants during the various stages of the planning of projects. Tenant participation is the surest way to break down the old "them and us" view and to foster a common interest in the maintenance and wellbeing of estates and the local environment generally.
Section 9 introduces the means for a new and more progressive style of management and maintenance of local authority housing. Written statements of their policies in relation to the management of their rented dwellings will have to be drawn up by housing authorities. The Minister will have the right to specify matters which those policies will have to address. Each authority will, therefore, be required to review their own performance, set out their targets and plans for future action and have them agreed by the elected members. This must be done within one year of the commencement of the section but local authorities have already been asked by my Department to begin work on these policies.
Section 9 also takes the major step of allowing authorities to delegate to tenants' representatives bodies functions such as maintenance works, environmental improvements and collection of rents. Heretofore, responsibility for these functions was vested solely in the authorities themselves. There is also power to allow all or part of the rental income from the houses involved to be assigned to bodies undertaking these responsibilities.
I want to make it clear that section 9 does not aim to impose a single system either for management or delegation for all circumstances. Rather the intention is to provide a statutory basis to enable authorities to devise the arrangements that are best suited to individual local needs but which take full cognisance of the need to involve their tenants in a meaningful way.
The principal objective of the Bill is to imtigate as far as possible the extent and effect of social segregation in housing. The Bill as a whole, by diversifying the overall approach to social housing, will create a significant move away from one-class housing, which has traditionally been the main feature of public intervention in the housing area. It also contains, in section 28 a means for the first time, of systematically moving away from excessive concentrations of local authority housing which lack a suitable degree of social mix and integration. Housing authorities will be required to draw up and adopt a written policy to achieve this new emphasis. Authorities have already been requested to put the development of these policy statements in train. In particular, they have been asked to consider at all times the purchase of existing or new houses as an alternative to building themselves and to aim for a good social mix. Guidelines have been issued in relation to the size of local authority estates and local authorities have been requested to put surplus land in their ownership at the disposal of individuals, voluntary bodies and co-operatives for housing.
The statutory provisions relating to the sale of local authority dwellings are comprehensively restated in section 26. The general terms of tenant purchase schemes will be set out in regulations. It will be a function of the elected members of each housing authority to adopt a purchase scheme in accordance with the regulations under which rented dwellings may then be purchased by the tenants. The procedure of requiring each sale to be approved by council resolution will no longer apply to individual sales to tenants. However, the sale of any unoccupied dwellings will be subject to such resolution. In the interests of flexible housing management, there is also power for a housing authority to sell or lease tenanted dwellings to another authority or, with the consent of the tenants, to an approved housing body.
In the past, tenant-purchase schemes have tended to apply for a specific period of time and I am aware of the view that there should be a permanent scheme. I want to make it clear that the provisions of section 26 do not prejudice this issue one way or the other. It will be open to the Minister of the day to decide whether to introduce a permanent scheme or a time-limited one, as appropriate in the circumstances.
Local authority dwellings are sold on an" as is" basis and all subsequent maintenance then becomes a matter for the purchaser. Accordingly, the opportunity is taken in this section to clarify the fact that once a sale has taken place the purchaser assumes responsibility for the dwelling and no warranty as to its condition or habitability if given by the housing authority.
Section 26 should eliminate the difficulties relating to the treatment of common elements that have arisen in connection with the sale of flats and which were brought to the Department's attention some months ago. These provisions should enable authorities to proceed with the sale of flats under the 1989 scheme without further delay.
The private rented sector represents some 10 per cent of the national housing stock. It is an important element in our housing system and, as such, it needs to operate within a balanced legislative framework. This balance must be between the need to encourage investment in the provision and maintenance of accommodation on the one hand and, on the other, the need to ensure that tenants are treated in a fair and equitable manner. An in-depth review of the sector was carried out by my Department during 1990 in consultation with the various interests involved. The social housing plan stated that the review had shown some additional safeguards for private sector tenants to be desirable. These are provided for in the Bill.
The first measure affecting the private rented sector — section 16 — deals with notices to quit which are not to be regulated by statute for the first time. At present, a landlord wishing to withdraw accommodation from a weekly tenant can generally do so at one week's notice. This can leave tenants in a vulnerable position without sufficient time to secure and move into alternative accommodation before the notice expires, particularly at certain times of peak demand. A tenant giving similar notice to a landlord may also leave the landlord in an equally unsatisfactory position with vacant accommodation and possible heavy repayments to meet.
Section 16 means that, in future, all notices to quit must be served in writing at least four weeks in advance. Notice by either the landlord or tenant for a lesser period, or which is not in writing, will not be legally enforceable once this section is in force. This will apply to existing as well as new tenancies. Contracts already requiring written notice of longer than four weeks will not, of course, be affected.
Section 17 empowers the Minister to make regulations obliging landlords to provide rent books for private rented dwellings generally or for particular classes of such dwellings. Rent books will contain documentary evidence of deposit and rent payments, the date of the letting and the terms of the tenancy, including the rental period and the notice required to terminate the tenancy. This will have advantages for both landlord and tenant and should help avoid disputes. Effectively, the rent book will serve many of the purposes of a written letting agreement. It will also facilitate tenants claiming supplementary welfare allowance and tenants aged over 55 years claiming tax relief on rent paid.
At present, regulations made under section 26 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982, prescribe minimum standards for formerly rent controlled dwellings on a national basis. In addition, many local authorities have made by-laws under section 70 of the Housing Act, 1966, laying down standards for private rented dwellings in their areas. However, these by-laws are not uniform and they are generally lower than the standards applicable to the formerly controlled sector.
It is evident, therefore, that the position in relation to the control of standards is unsatisfactory. Accordingly, it is proposed to replace the existing provisions with section 18 which allows for the introduction, by way of regulations, of a new uniform set of minimum standards for private rented dwellings. Local authorities will have the full powers of enforcement of the statutory standards that they have under existing legislation.
Distress is an ancient common law remedy which entitles a landlord of rented property, without recourse to the courts, to seize the goods of a tenant to enforce payment of rent. This type of procedure has no place in a modern legal code relating to rented dwellings. Accordingly, section 19 prohibits the use of distress in the case of residential lettings. This section will have no effect in relation to commercial lettings.
Section 20 will make it possible by regulation to require the registration of rented dwellings generally or particular classes of such dwellings.
Taken together, sections 16 to 20 will constitute an important charter of rights for private tenants. There is sufficient flexibility to direct attention at particular areas avoiding an overly regulated approach that would not serve either landlord or tenant interests.
The provisions in the Bill relating to the introduction of rent books, standards and registration will replace sections 25, 26 and 24, respectively, of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982, which have only been brought into effect in the formerly rent controlled sector. There would be practical difficulties in seeking to regulate the private rented sector as a whole under those sections since they make no provision to exempt, for example, mobile homes or other temporary letting arrangements which clearly should not be subject to them. The corresponding provisions in the Bill will overcome these shortcomings and contain other improvements to make them more effective in the overall.
When these provisions are brought into force, my Department will prepare and circulate a handbook which will act as a layman's guide to the landlord and tenant code as it affects residential lettings. This should ensure that tenants are well informed of their rights and obligations.
The major emphasis in the overall programme for the accommodation of travelling people has, in recent times, been on the provision of additional residential caravan sites. However, progress in the provision of sites has often been poor, frequently because of opposition from the settled community to the location of sites. A factor in this has been the tendency for some travellers to continue to remain parked on the roadside in proximity to serviced sites that have been provided for them. In an effort to deal with the problem, section 10 provides that where a caravan is parked within five miles of an official halting site the local authority may serve notice on the owner of the caravan requiring him to move it in to the site, if there is a suitable space for it. Failure to comply with this notice will constitute an offence and allow the authority to take direct action themselves to relocate the caravan in to the site. If they are prevented from doing so, they may take it to a place of storage from where it may later be reclaimed by the owner.
I think that this is a reasonable power designed to assist local authorities in overcoming local opposition to the provision of badly needed halting sites. By no stretch of the imagination can it be regarded as draconian: it is a power that can only be invoked in clearly defined circumstances.
I should point out that the provision of caravan sites by approved voluntary bodies is now among the activities that can be assisted by housing authorities and the Department under section 6 of the Bill. This is the same mechanism under which the successful voluntary housing schemes operates.
The Building Societies Act, 1989, gives the Minister power to regulate the securitisation by building societies of residential mortgages, that is, the transfer of the mortgage to another party. The primary concern would be to ensure that the borrowers' interests are protected. Section 13 of this Bill will extend this power to regulate securitisation of residential mortagages held by all mortgage lenders. The need for the consent of the borrower is central to this provision. Section 14 relates specifically to the disposal of public sector mortgages.
Section 15 provides a means of transferring the debt of local authorities on foot of past housing loans from the Exchequer to the Housing Finance Agency, thus bringing it into line with current practice under which all new borrowing by local authorities for housing loan purposes is funded by the HFA. In this way, local authority debt on housing loans could be rationalised and centralised.
I should emphasise that no proposals to dispose of publicly funded housing mortgages or to transfer local authority debt exist at present. Section 14 and 15 are merely enabling provisions that remove existing legal obstacles and make it possible for these options to be considered in the future.
Documentation in connection with assistance given by my Department or local authorities in the form of loans or grants, etc., usually contains a clause disclaiming any liability in respect of the fitness for habitation of the houses concerned. However, there is a legal view that, without statutory backing, these clauses may not fully protect local authorities. In addition, a number of the new measures in the Bill, for instance, shared ownership and the rental subsidy, will introduce new forms of assistance where it would not be appropriate that public authorities should carry a liability. Accordingly, under section 22 the granting of assistance in respect of a house shall imply no warranty on the part of the Minister or the housing authority as to the fitness of the house. This does not, of course, affect any liability that may be held to arise out of negligence.
Section 23 assigns all the various housing functions, including the new functions under this Bill, to local authorities in accordance with current practice. This means that county councils and county borough corporations will discharge all the housing functions in their own areas. In addition to these functions, county councils will perform a range of functions in respect of urban areas within their boundaries, such as preparation of estimates of housing requirements and the operation of the voluntary housing and shared ownership schemes. As in the case of the Local Government Act, 1991, this section also enables the Minister, in the future, to transfer functions between housing authorities where he considers that they could be performed more effectively as a result.
Section 29 expands the powers of the Housing Finance Agency by enabling it to lend to housing authorities and the National Building Agency Limited for any of their housing functions. At present, the HFA may only lend to housing authorities for the purposes of loans or grants for the provision or improvement of houses. It will now play a more comprehensive funding role, particularly in relation to new measures contained in the Bill such as shared ownership. The HFA's borrowing limit is being increased from £1 million to £1.5 billion. The HFA's power to advance loans directly to the public is being discontinued as it has not engaged in this type of lending since 1986.
The Bill recognises that the delivery of housing services is essentially a local responsibility consonant with the Government's general policy of devolving as much power as possible to local authorities. Housing authorities are being give responsibility for the operation of all the new schemes of assistance being provided for in the Bill. With its enactment, authorities will have at their disposal an extensive range of options for tackling social housing needs. This in turn implies significant changes in the traditional housing role of local authorities. They must no longer see themselves merely as direct providers of housing for rent — they must actively promote and facilitate the provision of social housing in all its forms. It is essential that the elected members, management and staff of local authorities appreciate and adapt quickly to this change of role.
To conclude, this is a Bill that breaks significant new ground in housing legislation. It sets out to provide a general framework for action rather than an overly prescriptive approach. Flexibility is an important hallmark of the Bill — the flexibility to change and adapt schemes as required by changing circumstances and experience. A number of valuable improvements were made to the Bill in the Dáil, I am happy that the Bill now before the Seanad is a good Bill that is well designed to meet its goals.
I commend the Bill to the House.