Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

In light of a 64% increase in fees on one estate, I wish to draw the House's attention to three case studies which will illustrate the activities of property management companies. All will highlight the fact that such companies are protected by the Government while they rip people off. An estimated 8% of people in Ireland now live in properties managed by companies and the proportion is much higher in Fingal, given the large amount of development there recently.

One of my constituents told me:

I purchased a duplex under the shared ownership scheme with Fingal County Council this time last year. I was told by Fingal County Council that the management fee would be €550 per year with insurance and bin charges included in that fee, though it seems other people were told different things. I was also told the charge was paid for the year.

I live in a courtyard and there was no street lighting in the courtyard. They had the lights but did not switch them on until, if I remember correctly, late October or the start of November, which I found extremely dangerous while walking at night. Also, I cycle a bike and for months I had to keep it in my apartment because they did not have adequate lighting in the bike storage areas. To be honest I do not see much being done around the estate.

Last summer the management company, Murphy Moore in Malahide, resigned. Director Gerry Gannon, comically, is head of the development Robswall, known also as Gannon Homes. A new management company was introduced, Smith Dunboyne, and again Gerry Gannon appears as the director, which is bizarre.

I have not had much to do with them until now. I got landed with a bill for €940 for service charges for my duplex, including €250 for refuse, which is a huge difference from what I was told last year.

They provided a breakdown of the charges and one of the things I found most comical was external window cleaning. I have been living there for a year and not once have they cleaned my windows.

There are many similar cases which beggar belief. Another management company in Balbriggan, Brecan management company, has directors registered as Mark Colgan of Blencam, Kerrymount Avenue, Foxrock, Dublin 18, and Desmond Ryan, Ardfallen, Cunningham Road, Dalkey, but they are no longer directors. The head of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr. Paul Appleby, wants more resources to ensure company law is being upheld but is denied them. People take that as a licence to flout company law so I ask the Minister to tackle these clear cases.

The third example relates to a new form of landlordism, which the inaction of Government encourages and is exemplified by the exorbitant fees being charged. A constituent tells me:

Unfortunately things have not improved a great deal in my area. I have e-mailed Smiths Property Management with the problems in Barons Hall. In fact the only things I have received from Smiths is a bill for €387.26 and a final notice letter that they are going to sue me if I do not pay up immediately. At this stage I am refusing to pay until I see some action being taken.

The thing that angers me most about this company is the fact they do not even have the courtesy to reply to me by telephone, e-mail or letter — nothing.

Smiths seems to be a particularly bad management company. Charles Smith recently appeared on a RTE "Primetime" special about management companies, although he did not want to be interviewed or even show his face. I wonder why.

I have friends in Chieftans Way and Brackenwood here in Flemington, both in apartment blocks managed by Smiths. Both have doors that do not lock. In fact the apartment block door of my friend in Brackenwood has not locked now for two months and lights in the stairway have not worked for the same period. She has e-mailed and telephoned Smiths numerous times and still nothing has been done. This is the kind of service we have come to expect of this company.

If I saw them do something with the green and act promptly when an abandoned car was reported to them I would pay my bill, even though it annoys me so much that this is something Fingal County Council should be doing but the fact they demand money and treat residents with such disrespect leaves me no option but not to pay and go to court if it comes down to that.

If I had a problem with my phone bill... I could complain to a regulator but with the management company there is no regulator...

How the present Government has let these management companies come into existence really gets me angry.

See this speech in context