Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

This inserts a new section into the Bill and arises from recent discussions between my Department and the Law Society. The new section will place an obligation on the owners' management company to join in any transfer or conveyances of units and to take any reasonable steps to enable a purchaser to obtain good marketable title to the property.

The Law Society suggested that a provision along these lines is needed so as to ensure the intending purchasers of units in a multi-unit development do not become caught up in any disagreement or dispute between the developer and the owner or management company. For example, an owner's management company might decide to try to bring pressure to bear on a developer by refusing to join in a transfer due to an ongoing dispute over the common areas. In such cases the people who would suffer most would be those intending purchasers and this provision is intended to prevent such situations from arising.