Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

It is important to understand that we are not just talking about apartments. This is another change that has happened. While for some of the historical Celtic tiger developments a multi-unit development meant apartments, there are some, such as Hunterswood, where there are houses. Increasingly, the way in which multi-unit developments are being planned in our urban centres means everybody is tied into the OMC. For example, in the new developments at Adamstown and Clonburris, even the houses now have increased volumes of communal areas that are designed in the most bizarre way. Corner houses, where typically there was a boundary wall into the garden and the driveway, do not have a boundary wall and a portion of what would have historically been their garden is a communally planted area, which ties them permanently into an OMC. You then get into battles about who pays for what if there are defects or if there is a management fee. Looking at Clonburris, however, which will be 8,500 homes when it is finished, every single house - it will be nearly 50% houses - will be tied into OMCs in perpetuity.