Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I thank him for his response. This is a major problem throughout the country, of which the Minister of State is well aware, and the issue with regard to unfinished housing estates has been well documented in the media. To not know the amount of housing estates involved is ridiculous. Each local authority should know and have information to hand on the quantity in its area. It is beyond the stage of issuing a best practice policy manual as there are legacy housing estates that have been there since the Celtic tiger. Merely issuing guidelines, circulars or best practice manuals is not enough. The Minister of State briefly mentioned legislation on derelict sites and litter but we need to ensure these developments are completed. There needs to be watertight legislation to ensure developers will no longer be able to leave an unfinished estate and move on to the next project. It should be part of best practice to ensure it does not occur again. How much money will the Department set aside to complete developments where developers have gone bankrupt and are not in a position to complete developments?

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