Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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We want to know the guidance the Department has given. Where a developer had been less than compliant in terms of completing the estate and where there were issues with the bonds expiring, given most of them were issued for seven years, some of the local authorities had been smart enough to look for cash bonds as opposed to insurance bonds. As I said, the only ones that were ever available in perpetuity were Anglo bonds.

It probably strays into the policy area in regard to what guidance the Department gave, but at the end of the day, the funds that local authorities have available cannot be used for things that are properly the responsibility of a developer who has not completed the estate.

I concur with Deputy Colm Burke in regard to the timeline to complete estates in a satisfactory manner and the level of oversight. However, the local authorities probably have not had the resources to do that in recent years. It is a local government matter rather than a matter for the Committee of Public Accounts.