Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to follow what Mr. Maher and Deputy Coppinger have said, much of which I agree with. I live in a multi-unit development and I pay management fees. Like Deputy Coppinger I live in Fingal, an area that has a large number of multi-unit developments. I believe it is very dangerous to start splitting houses and apartments in this regard. They are all homes. I am aware of the Castlecurragh development situation specifically. Deputy Coppinger knows the situation better because she lives there, but there is an obligation. It is about transparency. It drives people mad that they cannot get under the reasons and the breakdowns for the charges. I have dealt with a number of owner-management companies that have been very clear in outlining what the fees are for. No one likes paying fees or taxes, and that is an element of it, but if people know what the money is being spent on, it is better. The fee is not charged for nothing - in most estates. It is to pay for insurance, bins, maintenance and sinking funds. It is not the case that a big company, owned by somebody we do not know, is demanding €500 or €1,000 a year. The problem arises when it is not known how the charge is being spent.

There is also a problem when non-payment is advocated. This is a big issue. Consider that a home has been purchased and a management company contract has been signed but people do not pay their fee. As Mr. Maher has rightly pointed out, the conditions that were signed clearly say it is a managed estate. A person may not be happy with how it is being run but that is another issue. The idea of a person being able to opt out of payment because he or she is not happy with the way it is run is an issue. I deal with many estates in my area where people are not happy with their management company. I will not mention them here but we work through it. In some instances the big problem is the residual owners such as the builders or approved housing bodies who own a number of units. They own big chunks of a development and in some cases will not engage at all. I agree with Deputy Coppinger on many aspects and that we need to have a further discussion. It is a complex issue. When we speak of houses versus apartments, what is the definition of a house? There are duplex units, apartments that do not have lifts and so on. I put it to the representatives that many people like to live in multi-unit developments. When they are designed properly, they can be very good for sustainable communities and they can work very well.

However, there have been issues of really bad planning and really bad building. That is when we get to the defects - roofs and so on. The local authorities have a responsibility, and they should have one because they are the planning authority. I refer to the standards that were not imposed and checks that were not done at the time. Deputy Coppinger mentioned examples of roofs on apartment blocks. We see issues all the time with extreme weather events, and not only with extreme weather events. They should be able to withstand them. It is a massive issue.

This is my first meeting at this committee since I took over the housing role. The witnesses are right in what they have highlighted. It is a ticking time bomb. We will not agree on every aspect of how it is dealt with. Estates are different; it is complex.

I refer to a regulator or an arbitrator. Changes in legislation are clearly needed. The Oireachtas absolutely has a role in it as well as in future planning. I do not think a local authority should be told that it should not build any mixed developments. Mixed developments can be very good, if they are well planned and done properly. There are many that work properly. I refer to the defect element of it. Fees and sinking funds, in particular, will happen. We mentioned two specific examples of bad building, namely, Priory Hall and Longboat Quay, and the cost of fixing that.

I refer to the liability to homeowners. I am not talking about apartments or houses but about homeowners because these are homes for people. To quantify this, one would think it would run into hundreds of millions of euros. This is something we need to grapple with. That is why the presentation today was timely and important.