Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

This is one of the greatest scandals we have seen for a long time. The Minister has been in office for two and a half years. He refused my request to bring this matter within the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the appropriate authority to examine what has gone on in the organisation. Until today we relied on media reports to discover what was happening. Will the Government bail out the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, arising from the information provided for the House which shows a €27 million operating loss and a €50 million write-down value on one site? Is greater oversight of the organisation necessary? Does the Minister plan to wind it down and subsume it into Dublin City Council or the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government? What will be the ultimate cost to the taxpayer of the lack of proper Government practices and the irresponsible deals done in the Dublin docklands area in recent years?

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