Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Multi-Unit Developments (MUDs) Act 2011 was enacted with the primary purposes of reforming the law relating to the ownership and management of common areas of multi-unit developments, and facilitating the fair, efficient and effective management of owners' management companies (OMCs). Well-functioning OMCs are key to maintaining and sustaining higher-density residential developments, such as apartments.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to conduct a review of the MUDs Act, to ensure that it is fit for purpose and that it acts in the best interests of residents. Housing for All also provides for Regulations to be made under the MUDs Act relating to the:

• management of annual service charges by OMCs; and
• expenditure incurred of a non-recurring nature by OMCs (i.e. ‘sinking fund’ expenditure).
• The work of my Department in relation to multi-unit developments is guided by that of the Department for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in view of its central role in this area. The importance of policy input from that Department is underlined by a number of important initiatives in relation to multi-unit developments that have been brought forward in recent months by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
• These include the remediation scheme, which Minister O’Brien announced last year, and which will provide support for the remediation of apartments and duplexes with fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects, constructed between 1991 and 2013. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage also published in July 2023, a Code of Practice for remediation of such defects to ensure a consistent approach nationwide to remediation, which will allow stakeholders such as OMCs and industry to align their work with its provisions.
• Furthermore, an Interim Remediation Scheme for the funding of emergency fire safety defect works in apartments and duplexes was launched last December and is now open to applications from OMCs. Minister O’Brien also expects to publish this year, the draft legislation required to underpin the scheme, and to put in place the statutory scheme shortly thereafter.
• It is important that the review of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, and the drafting of any Regulations under the Act, would be informed by these key ongoing and priority developments, and as such it is not possible at this point to say when the review of the Act will be completed.