Labour’s Joan Burton TD and Dublin West Councillors, Peggy Hamill and Michael O’Donovan, are to host two public information meetings over the coming weeks on the issue of property management companies:

Thursday, 18th September, 2008 @ 8.15 pm,
‘The Lunar Room’, Park Plaza Hotel, Tyrellstown

Saturday 27th September, 2008 @ 11am,
Myo’s pub, Castleknock Village (upstairs)

Despite being aware of serious problems with property management companies for several years now, the Government have still taken no action on this front. In June of this year, the Law Reform Commission published a report on management companies and proposed draft legislation to address the many problems faced by residents of estates and apartment complexes governed by property management companies.

The aim of these public meetings is to present the Law Reform Commission report to local residents in an accessible format; to update people as to the (lack of) progress by the Government in bringing forward appropriate legislation; to provide general information on management companies; and to allow members of the public to share their experiences and frustrations with their property management companies.

The panels for these meetings will include both legal experts and local residents who have ‘been through the mill’ with their management companies and have kindly agreed to share their experiences.

Speaking in advance of these meetings, Deputy Joan Burton commented: “While some people are quite happy with their property management company, their are unfortunately many more who are not. With an explosion of new housing development in Dublin 15 in the last decade, it is understandable that many of the people affected find themselves in this area. People contact me on a daily basis with concerns about their management company. The Government have know about these problems, and have known that new legislation is needed, for many years now but have sat on their hands. I have brought this issue up in the Dáil on many occasions, and I’ll keep pushing when the Dáil resumes in the coming weeks, but the Government doesn’t want to listen.”

“The purpose of these meetings is to address the information gap. People are often unaware of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to their property management companies. We will have legal experts on hand to walk people through the issue and to explain the promise held by the recent Law Reform Commission report. We will also have local residents who have kindly agreed to share their experiences of going twelve rounds with their management companies and coming out fighting.”