IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Diarmuid Mawe, Craig Kenny, Katelin Toomey and William Fogarty, Maples Group
Representation and warranty insurance is avail - able in the Irish market. However, it is not fre - quently used as part of real estate transactions, except where real estate is being acquired by way of a corporate rather than an asset acquisi - tion. 2.6 Important Areas of Law for Investors An investor should ensure that: • the title to the property is good and market - able; • the property complies with environmental laws and Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts 1963 to 1999, the Plan - ning and Development Acts 2000 to 2023 and the Planning and Development Act 2024, insofar as such acts are in force (together, the “Planning Acts” ) and • the property has all the necessary easements for access and services. Investors will also need to ensure they under - stand the application of Irish tax law. 2.7 Soil Pollution or Environmental Contamination A buyer may have secondary liability for soil pollution or environmental contamination. If the person or entity that caused the pollution or contamination cannot be identified, the current owner or occupier of the property could become liable under the applicable environmental legis - lation for remediation. It is therefore important that environmental due diligence is carried out by a buyer where compliance with environmental laws is a concern. 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law The Planning Acts govern planning and zon - ing matters in Ireland and regulate the zoning
and permitted uses of areas through a variety of development, sustainability, landscape conser - vation and special amenity plans. Each local authority has a development plan that sets out its planning policy for a six-year period. This is due to change to a ten-year plan under the 2024 Act. A buyer’s solicitor should carry out a planning search as part of the planning due diligence, and this search should specify the zoning applicable to the property. The State Authorities (Public Private Partnership Arrangements) Act, 2002 (the “2002 Act” ) ena - bles local authorities to enter into joint venture public private partnership (PPP) arrangements with the private sector. A PPP is an arrangement between the public and private sector for the provision of infrastructure or services. Under this model, contractors in the private sector become long-term providers of a service, rather than merely building an asset upfront. This allows local authorities to plan resources and monitor services, rather than provide them directly. 2.9 Condemnation, Expropriation or Compulsory Purchase Local authorities and other state entities, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA – a body established by the Irish government in 2009 to function as “bad bank” acquiring prop - erty loans from Irish banks) and the Industrial Development Agency (IDA – Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency) all have the abil - ity to purchase lands compulsorily in connection with their statutory functions. Local authorities can compulsorily acquire lands in the following circumstances:
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