John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, for taking the time to listen to my concerns about this issue. I want to highlight a number of issues that affect management companies and the residents who constitute their members. I raise this issue on foot of a report in The Irish Times on Friday last on a potentially serious situation which was developing with regard to a large management agent, Assured Property Management. At one point this company managed approximately 40 estates or apartment complexes and many homeowners are dependent on it. One of these developments is located in my constituency. I will not name it, but I can say residents have been in touch with me since Friday and are genuinely very worried about what this means for their homes.

According to the newspaper article, the company was listed to be struck off the Companies Register.

I checked the Company Registration Office website today and the status of the company has changed back to normal.

This episode highlights the fragile situation of residents of developments served by management companies. If such a company was struck off, clearly the creditors would be exposed but the implications for residents could include no home insurance, no refuse collection and no maintenance of their estates. These are very serious issues. It is important to remember that these are ordinary people who go out to work and who pay their management fees. They should not be at the mercy of a company failing and not meeting its obligations. Most of these people bought their homes during the boom and are also affected by negative equity. As residents, they are members of the management companies, but this means that when situations such as the one referred to arise, they are expected to deal with complex legal and financial matters. In most cases, they are not equipped to do so. These are people who have paid for their homes, who go to work and have lives to live and this extra burden is very time consuming and stressful for them. I spoke to one affected resident who told me she had to take a day off work last week to deal with management company issues.

Residents are entirely dependent on the management agents so a high bar must be set for the operation of such companies. I appreciate that the recently established Property Services Regulatory Authority, PSRA, is there to license and regulate property services providers but home owners need to have faith in the system. The issue here is the application of the law and in that context, I have two particular questions. Is the Director of Corporate Enforcement sufficiently resourced and staffed to enforce corporate law, particularly in respect of management companies? Does the PSRA have the budget and staff to fully carry out its role?

Under the Multi-Unit Developments Act, common areas are meant to be vested with management companies and sinking fund accounts are supposed to be set up. I know of cases where this has not happened yet but the only recourse the residents have is to the District Court. Again, this is another time consuming and complex area for residents to have to get involved in and represents another burden for them.

I appreciate that Deputy Ruairí Quinn is not the line Minister responsible but I look forward to his response.

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