Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is aware of a serious problem regarding Larkfield House where 44 families have been placed in a difficult position as a result of a decision by a developer to build and tenant the property without planning permission and proper building certification.

Last week, An Bord Pleanála made its determination that the refusal of the planning permission was upheld and therefore those properties do not have planning permission and South Dublin County Council has commenced enforcement. I will not ask the Minister about that. My major worry, which I know is shared by the Minister, his officials and the local authorities involved, is that these 44 families may have to present as homeless at any stage in the incoming period. We do not want that. There are tenants in the property who are the responsibility, in some shape or form, of South Dublin County Council, Dublin City County Council, Fingal County Council and at least two other local authorities outside Dublin. Some came via the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, so there is a fair amount of complication.

I have three points to put to the Minister. His Department needs to be as proactive as possible in working with the different local authorities and the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive to ensure the families get all the support they need so that if the planning issues cannot be resolved, they are assisted to move into alternative private rental accommodation. I spoke to officials in the Minister's Department last week and this week. They have been very helpful, but I ask the Minister to give us some reassurance that he and his staff will do everything they can to work with the other local authorities to resolve what is an incredibly stressful situation for the residents. I met with a very large group of them last night and they are hugely concerned. Some of these people have come from hubs or emergency accommodation. Those 44 families thought they were at the end of that experience and, through no fault of the local authorities or the Minister's Department but as a result, in my opinion, of the inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour of a developer, they are now in an incredibly difficult position. I raise that with the Minister to hear what assurance he can give me and, through the committee, the families in question, that he will do everything he can to assist them during this very difficult period.