Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I, too, welcome this Bill introduced by my colleague, Deputy O'Dowd. Contrary to the belief that apartment management companies are based only in Dublin, these companies are being established throughout the country. Even in east Galway, from where I come, there is no shortage of such companies. The Bill affords Deputies an opportunity to ascertain what estate management companies do, how they do it and for what reason they were set up in the first instance. Who benefits from the management of apartment complexes by private companies? Is it the builder, local authority or homeowner because it is certainly not the new owner of the property?

While the fees I will cite are low in comparison with those mentioned by my colleagues from Dublin, they are a problem. Recently, a young couple from a small town in County Galway approached me having received an annual bill for management fees of €500. They were unaware that these fees were payable. Two days after receiving that bill they received another one for €360 from the county council for waste management fees. Together, these bills amount to almost €1,000. With two children in a crèche and having borrowed heavily, the couple cannot afford to pay €1,000. Is this financially good for them either now or in the future?

As the Minister is aware, builders were traditionally required to bring estates to a certain standard before the local council would assume responsibility for them. I have seen this approach in action time and again over the years, albeit not so often in recent years. The residents of such estates then dealt with the council. Ten or 15 years ago, before greed came into play, another concept emerged based on the meitheal tradition with which some of us were brought up. This was the formation of residents' associations and loose co-operatives of well-meaning people for the purpose of keeping their estates in good order. The schemes involved levying voluntary contributions on each house in an estate. Suddenly, however, new legal entities have been established to make a business from this sector.

Young people are so delighted that their hour has come and they will take ownership of a new house that they do not read the small print of the contract they sign. Worse still, the professionals with whom they deal do not tell them about the small print. If the Bill does nothing else, it will at least alert young people to the importance of finding out to what precisely they are agreeing. Management fees will be akin to a ball and chain hung around their necks, although some residents may well be delighted to participate in estate management schemes.

Who is involved in management companies? Are the developers or solicitors involved? Where is the transparency in this regard? How can residents of estates find out exactly how their money is being spent? This lack of transparency is causing considerable agitation among many young people. They accept they agreed to pay estate management fees but they were not aware they were doing so when they signed the contract. They now find themselves unable to pay the fees. If, in the next year or two, interest rates increase, as we are told to expect, this will become a major problem.

This Bill is important as it will introduce transparency. Let the signal go out to every young couple signing on the dotted line that the rules relating to management companies are legally binding. They have become all-powerful. It appears to be difficult to disengage from them. Against that background, the more the communities in these new estates know about this, the better they will be able to handle it on the day they should know, namely the day they sign their contracts.

Everybody speaks about trying to protect young people against the ever increasing cost of housing. The Government tried over the past nine or ten years but was unsuccessful. A house that cost €300,000 last year will cost €330,000 this year and will probably cost €360,000 next year. That is what is happening. The management fee is a crippling levy. Whoever should bear the cost, it certainly should not be the new homeowner. For that reason, I support this Bill. It is a sensible measure and I ask the Minister to accept it on behalf of the Government.

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