Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have raised a specific issue because section 181 of the Act was changed. It stated that the majority of the people on the register of electors could sign a petition to the local authority requesting that an estate be taken in charge but the law has been changed now to refer to the legal owners. That causes two problems. First, because of the tax designation and so forth in many parts of my constituency, developers are continuing to hold on to some of the properties. The owner-occupiers, therefore, do not form a majority of the residents in the estate and it is very difficult for them to force the local authority to take the estate in charge. That causes huge problems. Second, in terms of trying to source that legal documentation, particularly if one is in difficulty with the bank, the last thing one wants to do is go into the bank to look for legal documentation that one can show to the local authority to prove one is the legal owner of the property.

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