Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

During the last Dáil and in this Dáil, the Taoiseach was kind enough to promise legislation to deal with management companies and the regulation of property agents. Everyone felt this was a personal commitment because of the Taoiseach's knowledge of this issue in Dublin Central, where many young people are charged management fees of €1,800 to €2,500 and cannot receive proper invoices, a case of gross exploitation by some management company directors, developers and property service agents. We have all heard how little legislation is before the Dáil but nothing has been heard in this Dáil concerning a law dealing with management companies or the introduction of legislation on the regulation of property management agents. Many apartment blocks will soon be ten years old and issues such as damage to roofs and repainting exteriors arise. Most of the money collected has gone with the managing agents and there is nothing left in sinking funds to provide for essential major repairs. People in apartments may be faced with bills in excess of €10,000 for major repairs.

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