Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Senator Bacik's amendment would introduce an element of retrospection in section 12. To do so would be to rewrite existing management company documentation, particularly their constitutions. Such documents are already contained in the legal documentation each unit owner has received. I am advised that this would not be possible. I have endeavoured to make the Bill applicable, as far as possible, to existing circumstances. There would be no point in passing a law which would only apply to future developments when we know most of the problems are in existing developments. We have, as much as possible, made the provisions retrospective from a legal point of view. However, there are circumstances where we cannot go back. We cannot rewrite constitutions or company memoranda of management companies.