A DUBLIN CITY councillor has slammed the Government for failing to protect apartment dwellers from unscrupulous management companies and agents.
Labour councillor John Gallagher said that despite a massive and sustained increase in the construction of apartments in recent years, the Government “has never regulated management companies. Legislation has long been promised but so far to no avail.”
Last month Labour’s Mary Upton TD raised this issue in the Dáil with the Tánaiste, who gave “the standard, non-committal reply”, according to Gallagher.
He continued: “The lack of effective regulation has caused major problems for many apartment owners. Developers have kept ownership of some management companies, some companies do not hold AGMs, charge exorbitant management fees and employ management agents who do not do the work they are contracted to do.
“The Law Reform Commission produced a report with a number of recommendations surrounding this issue. Whilst I did not feel they satisfactorily addressed all of the issues in the area, particularly the regulation of existing companies, they were a step in the right direction.”
Gallagher concluded that it is the Government’s job to introduce legislation to benefit the residents and apartment owners, and not “the fat-cat developers who control management companies, and management agents who frequently get exorbitant fees for jobs that they may do poorly.”
