Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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112. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government further to parliamentary Question No. 21 of 5 December 2013, the reason the condition was changed from the majority of those on the register of electors to owners; if his attention has been drawn to the difficulty this has caused in both providing proof and tracing landlords; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53284/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The amendment of section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 referred to in the Question, which requires a planning authority to respond to a request for the taking in charge of an estate received from a majority of the “owners” of the units in the estate, rather than the “owners or occupiers” as had previously been the case, was made to implement a recommendation of the Law Reform Commission Report of June 2008.

The Commission, in paragraph 1.31 of its report, stated that it “considers that the interests of tenant-occupiers of dwellings within an estate are often very different to those of unit owners. Occupiers who are not owners do not, as a rule, directly pay the service charge where a service charge is levied. They do not have a capital investment in the value of the estate. Indeed, some occupants of units on a given estate may intend to reside in an estate for a very short time only. As a result, the Commission questions the suitability of occupiers of property in a development, who are not unit owners, being eligible voters in the event of a plebiscite. The Commission accepts that under company law provisions it is open to unit owners to give a proxy vote to an occupant if theywish to do so. Ultimately, this should be left to the discretion of the unit owner.”