Vol. 499 No. 2
64 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will make a statement of the work to date of the Attorney General in progressing a request to the Law Reform Commission to analyse the problem of gazumping within the Irish housing market. [27437/98]
I understand that, on 7 December last, the Attorney General requested the Law Reform Commission to review the practice of vendors of residential property requiring the payment from prospective purchasers of a booking deposit and in particular to review the present position by which the payment of such a deposit confers no interest in the property on the prospective purchasers; to consider what protection, if any, could be afforded to such prospective purchasers; without predjudice to the generality of the above, to consider whether it is feasible to equate the payment of a booking deposit with an option to purchase the property; if it is not feasible to confer any form of protection on the prospective purchasers; to review the desirability of permitting such deposits to be required and the feasibility of making such a requirement unlawful; and to submit to the Attorney General proposals for reform in respect of such matters, if any, as the Law Reform Commission considers appropriate.
