Mr. Terry Shannon:

It is early days and we are still grappling with the legislation. Unlike our cousins in AILG we are rather earthy because the councillors run LAMA, so we will be doing that ourselves. We will make a submission, particularly in that area. It is a bugbear of every elected official, whether Senator, Teachta Dála or councillor, who knocks on a door in an estate where you would break your neck getting in the gate, there is no lighting at night and a non-existent footpath. Residents will ask why this is and say that they pay their property tax - they have paid a lot of money - and are paying mortgages. There is a need for this to be strengthened and for penalties. We have seen developers go bust and open up the following day under a different name. There needs to be legislation to stop that and a paper trail to be followed, so that we can get estates finished in a timely fashion, whether local authority or private estates. I would not allow a developer proceed elsewhere until he is finished what he has done. That is important and will be part of the submission we will make.