Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to bring to the Tánaiste's attention the plight of 26 families who have purchased homes in Johnstown Demesne, Enfield, County Meath. It is a development by Westin Homes. In some cases deposits were paid in April 2023 and people were told the houses would be ready in August. Then they were told October, then December and then January. It is now more than one year since people paid deposits. Many of these families gave up their tenancies in private rental homes and have ended up with nowhere to live. These people are being treated very badly by the developer and Uisce Éireann.

The development is being held up by issues with the developer and Uisce Éireann regarding a road opening licence. I spoke to a senior engineer in Meath County Council last Monday week who told me the council was waiting on three things to issue the road opening licences. These were a risk assessment, a traffic management plan and a method statement from Uisce Éireann, and Meath County Council was hoping to have all of them by the end of that day. Almost two weeks later, Uisce Éireann has not sorted this out with Meath County Council. I have to say it is one of the most incompetent organisations I have ever dealt with. To be honest, it is a joke in a housing crisis. I ask that the Department intervenes to sort out this mess with Uisce Éireann as soon as possible and let it know the effect its incompetence is having on these families. It is a pure joke.

See this speech in context