Buried at section 24 of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 is the most useful provision in Irish apartment law and one of its least used: a dedicated Circuit Court jurisdiction for every species of development dispute, with standing for anyone the Act touches, remedies as wide as the problems, and mediation built into the engine. Owners write angry emails for years without knowing it exists. Here it is.
Mary Molloy Solicitors are solicitors, not accountants or tax advisers. Nothing on this page is tax, accounting or financial advice — engage your accountant on those questions, and both advisers together where matters straddle the line. Company law procedures, CRO practice and filing deadlines change frequently, and reform of the law governing owners’ management companies and charities is ongoing; confirm the current position before acting on anything here.
The Design
Exclusive Circuit Court jurisdiction — accessible and proportionate by design; broad standing — any person with rights or obligations under the Act, with s.25’s list and catch-all; wide remedies — such orders as the court considers appropriate where rights are infringed or obligations undischarged: charges, transfers, information, voting, management; and the mediation power — the court may direct the parties to mediation, and the direction binds. It is machinery built for the sector’s reality: ordinary homeowners, volunteer boards, and disputes between people who remain neighbours.
What It Gets Used For
- Service charge fights: unapproved or opaque charges — the machinery behind the owner’s rights;
- Information and AGM failures: the s.17 report and meeting compelled — what members can demand;
- Common-area transfer battles: developers — solvent and otherwise — compelled toward completion: the untransferred estate;
- Governance and voting: unfair structures altered, obligations enforced — in both directions, because OMCs use s.24 too.
Using It Well
The sequence that works: the formal letter first — rights named, obligations cited, the s.24 application described rather than threatened (most disputes resolve here, because most boards and owners simply didn’t know obligations attached); mediation prepared-for, not drifted into — the direction may come anyway, and prepared parties price better; the application framed to the order you need — wide discretion rewards precise asks; and the Lee Towers arithmetic run before suing anyone insolvent — orders against the empty recover what unsecured creditors recover. The whole practice, from either chair, is at the OMC disputes hub.
A Development Dispute Going Nowhere?
Section 24 exists for exactly that. One call maps your standing, the order to seek and the letter that usually makes the application unnecessary.
Call 01 5827148Related Reading
Section 24 - FAQs
About the Author
Richard O’Shea, Solicitor practises with Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981), advising company directors, shareholders, family businesses, owners’ management companies, clubs and charities across Ireland. Richard holds a Diploma in Mediation from the Law Society of Ireland — central to this work, where shareholder, family-company and apartment-block disputes are relationship disputes first, and where the MUD Act itself empowers the Circuit Court to direct parties to mediation. Contact Richard on 01 5827148 or richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every farm and family situation is different, and you should obtain advice on your own circumstances before acting. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.