Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I am surprised the Taoiseach seems content with the legislative output of his Government. By any standards it is poor. Legislation on a number of issues is required. It has been promised for a long time but is not coming through. Given that there is only one, largely legalistic, piece of legislation to be dealt with by the Taoiseach's Department, I suggest he and his Department might assist with or take responsibility for bringing forward legislation where a number of Departments are involved. One example is the legislation for dealing with management companies, which the Labour Party has been raising here for years.

Many people purchased apartments for which the regime of management companies, responsible for the management of these areas, is a mess. People who purchased apartments and people who are renting are in a legal limbo regarding the operation of management companies. This is an increasing problem. In some cases the original developer might have taken an active interest in the management of the apartment blocks but might no longer be on the scene because of the downturn in construction activity and in development work. There is a major problem in this area. We were told the difficulty in bringing forward that legislation is that three Departments are involved. Where a number of Departments are involved in legislation I suggest the Taoiseach and his Department might take responsibility for bringing that legislation before the House. Very little legislation is coming from the Government, yet there are key areas in which people are facing major problems but where the legislation to address them is not appearing.

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