Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

The Law Reform Commission, LRC, asserts that only the owners should have a say in whether an estate is taken in charge. The Bill's explanatory memorandum refers to this regarding section 31. It states:

... the Principal Act which provides that a housing/residential estate would be taken in charge by the planning authority, in certain circumstances, on foot of a request from a majority of the owners or occupiers. The Law Reform Commission Report on Multi-Unit Developments recommended that it should be owners of units only who would have the right to determine whether the estate is taken in charge.

Am I right in believing that the Government is trying to encapsulate the owners and occupiers in this provision? Owners should have a say. A house's occupants might move on, but the owners will still need to have their say. I am not sure that we entirely agree with Labour's opposition to this section. The LRC recommends that the owner should have a say, but the Government's section allows the owners and occupiers to have a say. Will the Minister of State clarify the situation?