Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I have read all of the documentation and have listened to Mr. Coskeran's testimony today. I am nearly as angry as he is and I can see where he is coming from. It is not only Mr. Coskeran and his family that are affected. There are other families affected by this too. Mr. Coskeran had a memorandum of understanding. He signed a deal, a contract. He stuck to the terms of that contract but somewhere along the way, something changed. Irish Water got involved in 2018. I cannot understand why an engineer was not sent out. Why was an engineer from Irish Water not sent out? Mr. Coskeran still has to pay for the maintenance because technically, it has not been taken in charge.

There is also another issue. Mr. Coskeran should have been exempt from property tax because the site was not finished. There was a pardon granted but I cannot remember the exact year. I lived in the back of an estate that was unfinished and there was one year when we did not have to pay property tax. I cannot believe that Mr. Coskeran has had to come in here to this committee. It is an indictment of our local authorities that they cannot work with local people to resolve simple issues. I cannot understand it. This has gone on for 2,285 days. That is absolute torture. Somebody made a mistake somewhere along the way and does not want to own up to it, but Mr. Coskeran and his family, as well as the other families living on the estate, are bearing the brunt.

I agree with the Chairman that if this is not resolved today, those who are responsible should be brought before this committee. They will be brought in here and asked to explain why this has gone on for so long. Mr. Coskeran, his family and other families have been mistreated. There is no evidence of a commonsense approach here. There is nothing but red tape. Mr. Coskeran writes to the them, they write back to him but surely someone in a council van, an engineer, can visit the site. I am not an engineer but if I go into an estate, I know if the sewerage lines are done. Cameras can be used to check. The council can check footpaths, lighting and everything else. Irish Water is responsible for the water going in and out. The council is responsible for footpaths, electricity and so on. That is it and yet Mr. Coskeran has been fighting with the council for years and years. Now he is in here and we are listening to his account. I am as frustrated as he is now. Hopefully, the press will pick up on this but, unfortunately, Mr. Coskeran's battle is not finished yet. We will get representatives of the council and others who are responsible in here to provide answers. This has been going on for so long that an apology should also be on the way to Mr. Coskeran. This is an awful way to treat any person, regardless of the circumstances.

Having listened to Mr. Coskeran, it is clear that somebody somewhere along the line within the ranks of the council has made a mistake and it was buried. Now we have only confusion. As we see in many committees, accountability and responsibility are the keys to getting anything done but if people are not willing to accept that, we will not get a result. I wish I could say to Mr. Coskeran that this will be sorted within a week but I cannot. What I will say is that we have to get answers on this. We must get answers from the body that is responsible, which is the council. That is the body with which Mr. Coskeran has a contract and an agreement. He honoured his side of the agreement. Why has the council not honoured its side?