Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

The Minister was just getting to the most interesting part of his reply but I imagine it was contained in the reply to the Adjournment Debate matter I raised several weeks ago. I have been surprised by the apparent lack of knowledge in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government about what is happening on the ground. Many local authorities now have a standard clause that requires mandatory membership of a management company, not just in a mixed or apartment only development but in traditional housing estates. In fact, it is registered in the Land Registry Office against the folio of the particular house. Will the Minister indicate whether that practice has any legal authority? In the absence of such legal authority, will he instruct the local authorities to cease this practice because it is giving people who have paid non-refundable deposits no choice but to sign up? I understand tens of thousands of people are affected by this practice. The Dublin local authorities and those on the fringes of Dublin are engaging in it also. There can be a gap of years between the time all the houses are completed and the estate is taken in charge. My understanding of the Planning and Development Act 2000 is that the seven years only kicks in five years after the planning permission has run out. That means people could pay up to €1,000 a year for 12 years, which is a sizeable amount and the equivalent of another month's mortgage in a year. A local authority could not prosecute a parking offence through the court unless it had the legal authority to do so, whether by way of a by-law or the road traffic laws. In the same way, local authorities are acting outside the law in this respect and the Minster must address that problem.

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