Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update in respect of an issue (details supplied) regarding management companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36885/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position as Minister to provide legal advice in response to a Parliamentary Question on a particular case. However, I can indicate the following by way of general information.

One of the principal objectives of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 is to ensure transfer of common areas of such developments to the owners' management companies concerned. Section 4 of the Act, which deals with partially completed developments, and section 5, which deals with substantially completed developments, provide that transfer of the relevant parts of the common areas must have been completed within 6 months of the coming into operation of the Act, i.e. before 1 October 2011.

Section 24 of the Act establishes a new Circuit Court jurisdiction for the resolution of disputes in relation to multi-unit developments. It means that if such a dispute cannot be resolved by the parties concerned by means of mediation or other dispute resolution mechanism, the Court may, where it is satisfied that a right has been infringed or an obligation has not been discharged, make an order with a view to ensuring effective enforcement of the right or effective discharge of the obligation concerned. Such an order may include an order transferring control of an owners' management company from a developer to the apartment owners where the Circuit Court is satisfied the developer has unreasonably refused to effect such a transfer.