The National Consumer Agency has called for the creation of a forum to protect the rights of more than 500,000 apartment dwellers.
Agency chairwoman Ann Fitzgerald said her organisation would be willing to co-ordinate the work of such a forum in the interests of apartment dwellers experiencing difficulties with the management of their blocks.
The Government has promised legislation to address the difficulties faced by many apartment dwellers, but this is unlikely to happen for some time. Ms Fitzgerald said consumers needed protection while the issues involved were being ironed out.
A forum involving all the main interests in the sector could reach agreement quickly on basic steps to protect consumers that wouldn't need legislation, she said.
Ms Fitzgerald also proposed that property management agents should use the interest they accumulate on service charges to pay the legal costs of consumers who encounter problems in apartment blocks.
"The key question is - who pays? Who should pay for court actions, who will fund redress when it needs to be awarded?
"We propose that redress be financed via the considerable sums of interest accruing in property management agent clients accounts, collected through service charges and contributions to sinking funds each year," Ms Fitzgerald added.
