Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 October 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Multiple Unit Developments: Discussion

2:00 am

Mr. Sam Doran:

Yes. When you make the application first, the first part of phase 1 is to ask how many apartments there are in the development. At the end of the form, though, it says that you do not have to worry about this if you cannot answer and they can sort it out later. It is that simple starting. Then, however, it gets complicated very quickly. You need a tax certificate. CLGs do not have a tax certificate because they are non-profit organisations. However, they do not give you the information that you have to go back five years and register for corporation tax. That takes six to eight weeks, which is another two months gone. The whole process is flawed because it does not tell people to apply. It should be laid out that when you go for this, you need this and this. However, it is time-consuming and everybody is left in danger. We are lucky that there has not been a fatality with how it has gone thus far.