Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

As Deputy Gilmore has achieved the unique distinction of being praised by Government, Opposition and Independent Members, I will not heap further praise on him. He was even complimented by two of his constituency colleagues from other parties, a distinction not readily achieved in the House.

Buying a house is the largest investment most people will ever make. A legislative change such as that proposed in the Bill alerts us to the problem of unfinished estates in our areas. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 dealing with unfinished estates. Section 1 is a standard provision dealing with the Short Title and collective citation and construction of the Bill.

Section 2, which amends the Planning and Development Act by substituting a new section for section 35 on the refusal of planning permission for past failures to comply, is the key feature of the Bill. Under the new section builders who do not complete estates will be punished. As such, the section will significantly reduce or perhaps eliminate the problem.

The Bill has two effects. First, it shifts the onus of providing that the developer has a good track record on the completion of housing estates from a local authority to a developer and thus gives greater powers to a local authority to combat the problem of unfinished housing estates. Second, it empowers people who move into or live in a new estate to sue the developer of the estate for damages if work has not been completed.

The problem of unfinished estates is one of the greatest hardships people must contend with and one of the most common problems and sources of frustration brought to the attention of public representatives. The majority of problems concern unfinished footpaths, landscaping, open spaces and other work developers have failed to complete.

Most new houses on estates are bought by landlords for the rental market or first-time buyers. The former generally live outside the estate and have little interest in anything other than receiving their rent on time and few concerns about whether an estate is completed or has open spaces. Young couples moving into housing estates have enough on their minds as they try to pay their mortgage and decorate and furnish their house. They may be expecting a first child and will not be overly concerned about whether work on the estate has been completed. However, as their children grow older and begin to take an interest in sport and so forth, they tend to look around and ask where is the open space. If they consult the plans or the glossy brochure supplied by the builder when they moved in, they may discover that the area designated as open space is an unofficial dump, as is the case on most estates. They may then find that the builder has progressed to building projects in Dublin, London, Spain, Thailand or elsewhere. In such circumstances, the hard-pressed home owner has no recourse.

Similar Bills introduced by Deputies Seán Ryan and Noonan included the key provision of the Bill before us that local authorities would refuse planning permission to builders who consistently leave unfinished work in housing estates. In their rush to proceed to the next project, builders often fail to complete housing estates and leave roads, footpaths and so forth unfinished. Once houses are sold, the builder has made his profit and while it is legitimate for him to do so, it is also legitimate for those who buy houses from brochures to expect a finished estate. Despite the brochures' images of landscaped areas and semi-mature trees, ten years after completion some housing estates have no trees or open spaces. In some cases, house buyers were robbed when they did not get the finished product they were promised. Local authorities too must have control over the houses they commission? Often local authority housing estates are not finished correctly with open spaces left unfinished. Central heating must be installed in all local authority houses. Will the Minister examine local authority housing in this regard and ensure central heating is provided?

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