Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Connor, who has covered a lot of what I had intended to ask him. However, I wish to flag a problem I have in this regard to the board, which may be aware of it, namely, the lack of accountability at local authority level. Perhaps all that will change with today's announcement. I refer to my experiences in respect of individual jobs involving people who have approached me. Such people received housing grants but a complete mess was made of the work even though the council was meant to oversee it. In one case, it did by looking in the window, turning around and walking away again. Ultimately, the person who received the grant could not use a wheelchair in the house and while that person has tried to get another grant, it still is all up in a heap. On a slightly larger scale - that is, as large as it gets where I come from in west County Roscommon - a couple of years after an estate of approximately 40 houses was built, it became obvious there was a problem. In one case, there was a crack that was approximately six inches wide at the top of the building and another that was approximately one inch wide at the bottom, which had been filled in with Polyfilla to cover them up. I approached the council to inquire whether it had been keeping an eye on what was going on. The response I received was yes, someone had been sent out to have a look at it. To this day, I have not actually managed to talk to the person in question and do not know whether he or she ever existed. While I was told that someone went out to the site, the council could never arrange for me to talk to that person. This has happened numerous times because people approach elected representatives about it and I am sure every member present has been approached. Mr. O'Connor has stated the new regime will not be self-certification or anything like that but ultimately, when something is done wrongly, who will enforce it? At present, local authorities will not even act as enforcers in respect of money they are spending themselves.