A court judgment this week allowing four men in Dún Laoghaire to buy their local authority homes had huge implications for the relationship between elected members of county councils and county managers, Labour Party TD Éamon Gilmore said yesterday.
The four men won their High Court case on Wednesday against Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, allowing them to buy their maisonettes at Sallynoggin at 1996 prices.
Mr Gilmore said: " The judgment is a victory of the individual householder over a powerful local authority, a real David over Goliath victory."
However, he said the case had huge implications for the relationship between the elected members of county councils and county managers.
"This is a case which involves unfair treatment of the householders concerned and frustration of the democratic will of the elected council," he said.
He said the four households in this case were among many tenants of maisonettes who sought to buy their homes under the Tenant Purchase Scheme.
In the early 1990s, the council's response was that flats could not be sold by the council because of complications involving common areas and services.
However, the four householders were willing to reach agreement on this.
"The elected members of the county council agreed to a proposal that there should be a pilot sales scheme for these four householders, but the council managements did not implement that decision," he said.
The net result of all this was that the four householders concerned had had to wait unnecessarily for 10 years to complete the purchase of their dwellings and the council was now exposed to very substantial legal costs, Mr Gilmore said.