Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for outlining the substantial powers of local authorities. As the Minister correctly pointed out, these were strengthened under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act. However, two things are evident, namely, there is no enforcement and local authorities fail to put enough money into the fund to have estates taken in charge. Does the Minister's experience lead him to agree that the latter is because they do not want to be saddled with the costs of maintenance and other aspects of estates in local authority ownership? It is not a question of a lack of power but the will of the local authority to take these estates in charge and deal with them. They are not doing so. Will the Minister instruct local authorities to take a more proactive approach to taking in charge estates and allocate more resources for this on an annual basis?

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