Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 8 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 2

Written Answers - Property Transactions.

Liam Fitzgerald

Ceist:

222 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice in view of the acceptance by estate agents of the practice of gazumping and the increasing incidence of auctions and the use of the process known as private tendering whereby the parties interested in purchasing a house write down the maximum they can afford and the highest price is accepted, whether she has any plans to extend the remit of the Auctioneers and House Agents Act, 1947, to regulate the practices of the profession; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8791/97]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

The Auctioneers and House Agents Act, 1947, as amended, provides the statutory basis for the regulation of entry to the auctioneering profession. Amending this Act would not be the appropriate way to regulate property transactions.

I do not have proposals at this time for statutory intervention of the kind envisaged by the Deputy. If, however, there are abuses capable of being addressed by means of such intervention the matter can, of course, be examined. However, amendment of the law in this area, depending on what is proposed, may be a matter for the Minister for Equality and Law Reform rather than the Minister for Justice. The Deputy will appreciate that any proposed changes to the law regulating such transactions would require detailed and careful consideration.