Written Answers - Unfinished Housing Developments Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 740 No. 1 Page of 778

  552.  Deputy Catherine Murphy      asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government      the schemes that have been applied for and accepted for the remediation of category 3 and 4 unfinished estates on a county basis; the amount that has been released; the local authorities that received same; the dialogue he has had with them about the projects to be included under their scheme in view of the fact that NAMA schemes are ineligible. [23207/11]

  556.  Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn      asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government      the provisions that are in place for a resident who lives in an incomplete development (details supplied) in County Donegal. [23238/11]

  575.  Deputy Nicky McFadden      asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government      if there is a procedure in place for local councils to reclaim money spent on demolishing and restoring ghost estates in their respective areas; and the further procedure to ascertain who owns and is responsible for each development. [23514/11]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Willie Penrose):    I propose to take Questions Nos. 552, 556 and 575 together.

I have established and am chairing the National Co-ordination Committee on Unfinished Housing Developments to oversee implementation of the Report of the Advisory Group on Unfinished Housing Developments, together with the Government’s response to the recommendations. Both documents were published on 9 June 2011 and are available on my Department’s website —www.environ.ie. The Committee is meeting on a regular basis with the aim of publishing a report on progress achieved within the next 12 months. In the meantime, work is ongoing on implementation of the Report of the Advisory Group and real progress is already being made with regard to the public safety works required to improve the living conditions of existing residents on some unfinished estates.

To date, my Department has made allocations totalling some €2.16 million to fifteen local authorities from the €5 million funding allocation made available to address immediate safety issues. The types of works that have been approved to date include the fencing off of unsecured and hazardous areas, capping of pipes, installation of street lighting, and other works to secure sites. My Department will be making further allocations as applications are received from local authorities and assessed. I can also report that planning authorities are already making progress [345]in securing the co-operation of developers, financial institutions and/or bond holders, thereby obviating the need to use Exchequer resources to fund such work.

Developers and owners of unfinished housing developments (or their receivers, where appointed) have the primary legal obligation in addressing outstanding problems associated with these developments. Any public funds expended under this provision should ultimately be recouped from the developer/receiver. Estates which fall under the direct control of NAMA, or receivers appointed by NAMA, are being managed by them and as a consequence do not fall within this scheme. Details of the allocations made to date are in the table.

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Last Updated: 08/03/2013 19:14:39

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