Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Law Reform Commission published a consultation paper on multi-unit developments last December and it drew attention to a broad range of issues relating to the governance and operation of such developments. The issues include the manner in which company law currently applies to property management companies. That paper was very comprehensive and it makes it clear that the action to address these problems will be required across several policy fields. We originally thought we could do it simply through one Act, but that is not the case. The report stated that it would affect company law, consumer protection law and the development of regulatory structures.

Due to the cross-cutting nature of many of the issues identified in the report, I asked that a high level interdepartmental committee be established to assist in the development of a coherent and comprehensive response to the problems. A key task of that committee is to identify the legislative and administrative actions to be taken in response to the definitive recommendations for legislative reforms, and to determine the timeframe for that.

I am asked this question almost every week. I expect that report will be published by the end of the year, and I will then be able to say something else on it.

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