Give NPSRA a Chance

You'd have to feel a bit sorry for poor old Tom Lynch in the National Property Services Regulatory Authority (NPSRA). This is the new body set up by the government to regulate Ireland's property industry. If you want a bit of a brush up on the authority you can see an introductory piece on our website here.

The authority hasn't even been fully legally set up yet and it's getting it in the neck from all directions. Catherine Cleary in the Sunday Business Post had a bit of a cut off it last Sunday in an article called 'Still Waiting for the Regulator' (if the link doesn't work the page may have been moved so you may have to do a search for it).

It's not enough that the authority is getting it from the print media, it's also getting a bit of a pasting in the blogosphere. Value Ireland has posted several less than complimentary pieces on the prospects of the new authority, the first of which is called 'Another Useless Irish Regulator on its Way - Lucky Us'. You'll find others if you visit IrishBlogs.ie and do a search for NPSRA.

Ok, so you would have to admit that our history in Ireland of running effective government regulatory bodies isn't exactly inspiring, but lets give it a chance to prove itself before we condemn it to the dustbin. If the authority has not been able to see through its remit after a couple of years of statutory regulation then it will deserve our wrath. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt and at least wait until it can legally regulate the industry before passing comment, positive or negative, on it.

To give credit where it is due, no other government in the world, to our knowledge, has entertained such an initiative so it is a real step into virgin territory. Perhaps it will be an unmitigated success, like the smoking ban has been.

Tom Lynch seems like an honourable, decent guy who is intent on carrying out his job in as effective a manner as possible. It is very possible that he will not get the resources or powers necessary to carry out his job properly, but then again he just might. If he does our property industry here could be one to hold up as an example to the rest of the world, so let's let him get on with his work and judge him on his achievements or lack thereof at a later stage.

If you've any interest in property, Irish or overseas, and how it is likely to be regulated in Ireland in the future then it is worth a visit to the NPSRA website.