Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

On Committee Stage I amended section 8(3) to require that unit owners must provide the owner-management company with relevant contact details. I understand the motivation behind this amendment but I have serious reservations about how it would work in practice. The amendment suggests that the sale of apartments be made conditional on compliance with undertakings with the purchaser. However, there is no means by which a vendor could ensure that the purchaser abided by any such commitments at the time of purchase by the purchaser. It also casts doubt on the validity of the sale if the purchaser did not subsequently respect the undertakings given. As a result of amendments agreed on Committee Stage, I believe section 8 now addresses the substance of what Deputy Rabbitte seeks. Section 8(3) states that a unit owner, whether the owner of a residential unit or a commercial unit, shall be under an obligation to furnish to the relevant owner-management company particulars of his or her name, particulars of his or her address, particulars of the names of the tenants in the unit, particulars of any habitual occupiers of the units other than tenants, and such other contact particulars as the owner-management company may reasonably request, and shall promptly notify the owner-management company of any change in such particulars. However, on how the seller can subsequently be required to provide those details on an ongoing basis, from a practical viewpoint it would be unreasonable.

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