Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It would make sure that local authorities did not fail people on this. As legislators, it is our job to craft legislation in a way that does not leave things to the local authority but instead makes sure we address where there have been huge failings all over the country that are continuing. There is an opportunity to fix that in this Bill but the Government will not take it.

All the Minister of State has said is that he will reissue a circular which has not worked. We could change the legislation to fix this so that for the next 20 or 30 years we as public representatives and the communities we represent would not continue to face these problems. The view is that we let these problems continue for more decades, let developers off the hook and put new residents in these communities under these stresses.

The taxpayers, the public and the local authorities continue to be on the hook while developers walk away, with insufficient bonds. That is utterly unacceptable.

Amendments Nos. 610, 621 and 622 seek to set conditions around the taking-in-charge process so that there would be time limits specified on that process. The conditions would also specify the areas that are to be taken in charge. Amendment No. 640 is a better amendment and is the preferable one in the group. It would mean that in an application for planning permission, the developer or applicant would specify the areas that are to be taken in charge and that would be completed within the duration of the planning permission. Just as the developer has to complete the homes, apartments or duplexes, that developer also has to complete the public spaces up to the requirements of the planning permission and have them handed over and taken in charge within the duration of the permission. It is better than amendments Nos. 610, 621 and 622 which are more minimalist and allow this to be done through planning conditions.

I want to talk more broadly about the issue of taking in charge, which we discussed on when we were talking about bonds. There are housing estates in this country, in County Kildare for example, that were built in the 1970s where the public areas have still not been taken in charge. In my constituency there are estates that were built back in 2004 and 20 years later, the public areas have still not been taken in charge. Over a 20-year period, public areas begin to deteriorate, which potentially makes it more difficult for local authorities to take them in charge. The bonds are well out of date, not index-linked and their value is far too low to address the conditions. The developer would have been on site 20 years ago and it would have been much easier to get any problems rectified then and the areas brought up to standard. Over a 20-year period, defects emerge and there is wear and tear so there is more work to be done to get areas up to scratch. Children who were not born when these estate were first developed are now 18, 19 or 20 and leaving home and for their entire life in these developments, the public areas have not been taken in charge and maintained by the councils. Sometimes these public areas are handed over to management companies. The developer leaves and hands them over to the management company. Residents are paying property tax to fund the local authority to maintain public areas. In addition to their management charges for the private, resident-only areas like shared stairwells or lifts that will never be taken in charge, they are also paying through management company fees for the maintenance of these public areas. This is a completely unacceptable situation that these amendments seek to address.

Our entire system on this is out of step with a lot of other European countries. In some European countries there are no delays in taking in charge. In fact, there is no taking-in-charge process. The local authority or the municipality builds and maintains the public areas from day one and charges the developer. The developer makes a contribution towards those costs and there are no delays with taking in charge. We are an outlier in this regard. Our taking-in-charge process can go on for years, if not decades. We do not have a process that works for the public, the taxpayer, local authorities and newer residents in communities. We have a process here that just works for developers, especially the ones that walk away, do not finish the job and get away with it.

I really hope my amendments will be accepted, particularly amendment No. 640, which is the best one. It would put a bit of order on this and mean that we would not have years, if not decades, of newer communities trying to get their public areas taken in charge and maintained by the councils. It would also address the huge frustration among officials in local authorities. I am sure the Minister of State will say that this is an issue on which the local authorities must do better but what officials say to me is that the legislation around this is completely deficient and they rightly make the point that it is our job, as legislators, to fix it.