Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Ní aontaím leis an cainteoir deireannach mar ní inniu ná inné atá an fhadhb seo againn, ach le tamall maith anuas. Caithfimid bheith dáiríre fá dtaobh seo agus cad atá déanta ag an Rialtas. Tá coiste curtha ar bun le scrúdú a dhéanamh ar caidé a dhéanfar leis na tithe seo sa todhchaí agus tá suirbhé déanta a dheireann nach bhfuil rudaí chomh holc agus a bhí daoine eile ag rá. Do na daoine atá ina gcónaí sna eastáit seo, cuid acu nach bhfuil aon scéim séarachais ag feidhmniú mar is ceart nó nach bhfuil soilsí ná tada ar an bhealach mór, níl sin maith go leor dóibh. Níl go leor déanta faoi seo, ach tá am mhaith ag an Rialtas le go leor a bheith déanta faoi. Ní fheicim aon práinn ón Rialtas ná ón Aire Stáit ar chor ar bith sa cheist seo. We have discussed the issue of empty housing estates before. Such a debate must include the planning process and the role of local authority members in rezoning lands, introducing county development plans and throwing the advice of county planners - public sector employees - to the wind.

The national housing development survey deals with the phenomenon of ghost estates. Unlike the famous ghost ship, the Mary Celeste, however, there is no mystery concerning how they came about. Neither is there a need to speculate about extra-terrestrials arriving from distant planets to build empty housing developments before heading home to the Orion constellation. The explanation can be found much closer to home.

Last week in the courts we saw evidence of how the property market operated during the Celtic tiger years. Some of the developments included in this report are a result of corrupt practices by politicians and former Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, is a senior member of the Fianna Fáil Party. That party needs to acknowledge the responsibility and flaws of its party members' activities in bringing about this situation. Many of the housing estates that are unfinished are built on unsuitable lands, many of which are liable to flooding. They are the fruits of rezoning deals done by politicians, some corrupt, some misguided and some too cosy with developers and speculators. The speculators continued to build such estates in the same way a compulsive gambler continues to back horse after horse no matter how much he loses. The difference between the two, however, is that the gambler cannot turn to the State for a bailout. The same should have happened to these developers and speculators.

The Minister of State earlier stated, "One of the main messages I want to get across to those retaining unsold vacant units is that my Department and every local authority in this country is open for business under the leasing initiative." To me this reads as: "The message I have for the developers and speculators who gambled on the property boom and lost out is for them to come to Government Buildings because we will bail them out."