Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The committee recommends that the correspondence from Kildare County Council be sent to Mr. Broughan for comment, that the petition itself and all related correspondence be sent for comment to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. Those are the recommendations. Has Senator Buttimer seen the documentation? There are a great many things to be answered. This estate was bought by the council in 2007. Difficulties surrounded the whole thing from the word go when it bought it. How it ever got the go-ahead for planning in the first place I do not know, for example five houses have been demolished so far. There is talk of demolishing another 15 units in the middle of the estate in order to get access to another field that the council owns. It is crazy that the original scheme passed planning and was given the go-ahead only to discover thereafter that there were so many problems subsequently. We have a serious housing problem in the country, and to see a council buying up a scheme and then starting to demolish houses does not look good. Someone needs to answer for the decisions that were made.

We will send correspondence to Mr. Broughan and the Department and see what they come back with.