Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

Part 6 of Schedule 2 makes amendments to the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, necessitated by the provisions in the main body of the Bill. Section 6 of the 1998 Act deals with periodic assessment of the accommodation needs of travellers and section 6(3) deals with consultation with the bodies specified in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 9(4) of the Housing Act 1988. Section 9 of the 1988 Act is repealed in Schedule 1 of the Bill. Part 6 of Schedule 2 makes a consequential amendment to section 6(3) of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 which specifies the bodies which must be consulted in carrying out an assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers.

The proposed amendment also recasts section 6(3) to refer to the functional area of a housing authority carrying out the assessment rather than its administrative area. This is because section 5 of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 gives a particular meaning to the expression "functional area" in the context of responsibilities of housing authorities under the 1998 Act. Therefore, this expression is appropriate to use in any amendment of section 6(3) of the Act.