Residential Tenancies Act 2004
Interpretation generally.
4.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“adjudicator” shall be construed in accordance with section 164(2);
F14["approved housing body" means a body—
(a) approved under section 6(6) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 for the purposes of section 6 of that Act, and
(b) to which—
(i) assistance under section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 is given for the provision by the approved housing body of dwellings F15[…], or
(ii) assistance referred to in section 6(2)(ea) of that Act is given;]
“authorised agent” shall be construed in accordance with section 12(1)(e);
F16["Board" shall be construed in accordance with section 150(1) and section 13 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015;]
“child” includes a person who is no longer a minor and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
“company” means a company within the meaning of the Companies Acts 1963 to 2003;
“contract of tenancy” does not include an agreement to create a tenancy;
“Director” shall be construed in accordance with section 160(1);
“Dispute Resolution Committee” shall be construed in accordance with section 157(2);
“dwelling” means, subject to subsection (2), a property let for rent or valuable consideration as a self-contained residential unit and includes any building or part of a building used as a dwelling and any out office, yard, garden or other land appurtenant to it or usually enjoyed with it and, where the context so admits, includes a property available for letting but excludes a structure that is not permanently attached to the ground and a vessel and a vehicle (whether mobile or not);
“establishment day” means the day appointed under section 149;
“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include, as respects power and duties, references to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;
“further Part 4 tenancy” shall be construed in accordance with section 41(2) or 45(2), as appropriate;
F14["housing authority" has the meaning assigned to it by section 23 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992;]
“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001;
“management company”, in relation to an apartment complex, means the company in which functions are vested with respect to the management of the apartment complex;
“mediator” shall be construed in accordance with section 164(1);
“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;
“Part 4 tenancy” shall be construed in accordance with section 29;
“personal representative” has the same meaning as it has in the Succession Act 1965;
“planning permission” means a permission under section 34 of the Planning and Development Act 2000;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;
“public authority” means—
(a) a Minister of the Government or a body under the aegis of a Minister of the Government,
(b) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,
(c) a local authority,
F14[(ca) a housing authority,]
F17[(d) the Health Service Executive established under section 6 of the Health Act 2004,]
(e) F18[…]
(f) a voluntary body standing approved of by the Minister for Health and Children or by F19[the Health Service Executive] of this definition for the purpose of providing accommodation for elderly persons or persons with a mental handicap or psychiatric disorder,
(g) F20[…]
(h) F21[…]
“remuneration” includes fees, allowances for expenses, benefits-inkind and superannuation;
“required period of notice”, in relation to a notice of termination, means the period of notice required by Part 4 or 5 or, if greater, by the lease or tenancy agreement concerned;
“self-contained residential unit” includes the form of accommodation commonly known as “bedsit” accommodation;
“shared ownership lease” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 1992;
“superannuation benefit” means a pension, gratuity or other allowance payable on resignation, retirement or death;
“tenancy agreement” includes an oral tenancy agreement;
“Tribunal” shall be construed in accordance with section 102(2).
(2) The definition of “dwelling” in subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to the construction of references to “dwelling” to which this subsection applies; each such reference shall be construed as a reference to any building or part of a building used as a dwelling (whether or not a dwelling let for rent or valuable consideration) and any out office, yard, garden or other land appurtenant to it or usually enjoyed with it.
(3) Subsection (2) applies to the following references to “dwelling” (whether in the singular or plural form) in this Act, namely—
(a) the second of the references in section 12(1)(h),
(b) the first and last of the references in paragraph (c)(ii) and paragraph (c)(iii) of the definition of “behave in a way that is anti-social” in section 17(1),
(c) the reference in subsection (2)(a) of section 25 to whichever of the dwellings mentioned in that subsection is not the subject of the tenancy mentioned in subsection (1) of that section,
(d) the references in subsection (2)(b) and (c) of section 25, and
(e) the second of the references in sections 136(h), 187(1) and 188(1).
(4) In this Act—
(a) a reference to a section or Part is a reference to a section or Part of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,
(b) a reference to a Chapter is a reference to the Chapter of the Part in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended,
(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and
(d) a reference to any other enactment is a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment.
Annotations
Amendments:
F14
Inserted (7.04.2016) by Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 (42/2015), s. 5, S.I. No. 151 of 2016.
F15
Deleted (17.01.2017) by Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 (17/2016), s. 32, S.I. No. 7 of 2017.
F16
Substituted (7.04.2016) by Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 (42/2015), s. 13(2), S.I. No. 151 of 2016.
F17
Substituted (1.01.2005) by Health Act 2004 (42/2004), s. 72 and sch. 7 part 15, S.I. No. 887 of 2004.
F18
Deleted (1.01.2005) by Health Act 2004 (42/2004), s. 72 and sch. 7 part 15, S.I. No. 887 of 2004.
F19
Substituted (1.01.2005) by Health Act 2004 (42/2004), s. 72 and sch. 7 part 15, S.I. No. 887 of 2004.
F20
Deleted (15.07.2019) by Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 (14/2019), s. 5, S.I. No. 354 of 2019.
F21
Deleted (5.09.2014) by State Airports (Shannon Group) Act 2014 (27/2014), s. 37(2)(a), S.I. No. 396 of 2014 in accordance with s. 43.
F22
Inserted by Planning and Development Act (34/2024), s. 631 and sch. 7 ref. no. 24, not commenced as of date of revision.
Modifications (not altering text):
C11
Prospective affecting provision: definition "planning permission" amended by Planning and Development Act (34/2024), s. 631 and sch. 7 ref. no. 24, not commenced as of date of revision.
“planning permission” means a permission under section 34 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 F22[or Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2024];
C12
Term “approved housing body” construed (1.01.2022) by Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (47/2019), s. 68, S.I. No. 728 of 2021, art. 2(f).
Construction of certain references in other Acts or instruments made under Acts
68. References in—
(a) any Act of the Oireachtas, other than this Act, passed before the coming into operation of this section,
...
to—
(i) an approved housing body,
(ii) a housing body approved under section 6 of the Act of 1992,
(iii) an approved body or a body approved, under, or for the purposes of, section 6 of the Act of 1992, or
(iv) to a body approved of or standing approved of, under, or for the purposes of, section 6 of the Act of 1992,
as the case may be (howsoever described), shall, on and after the coming into operation of this section, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to an approved housing body (within the meaning of this Act), save where other provision is made as respects the construction of the references in paragraphs (i) to (iv), as the case may be, by any Act of the Oireachtas (other than this Act) passed before that coming into operation.
Editorial Notes:
E4
Previous affecting provision: definition of “public authority” amended in para. (g) (5.09.2014) by State Airports (Shannon Group) Act 2014 (27/2014), s. 37(2)(a), S.I. No. 396 of 2014 in accordance with s. 43; paragraph deleted as per F-note above.