Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

To cut to the chase, we do not have a bottomless pit of money to throw at the problem and the responsibilities do not fall directly to the Department to address the multi-faceted issues which exist. On the first issue on what direct numbers we have, there are very different estimates depending on the source of information used. There is huge variation in the figures. For instance, the Construction Industry Federation stated there were approximately 35,000 completed but unsold units available for sale. However, a study by the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis at NUI, Maynooth, put the total figure at more than 300,000 units.

The great Scottish town planner, Sir Patrick Geddes, summarised planning by stating there are three issues involved: survey, analysis and plan. What is most important is to survey the scale of the problem and then to analyse those figures. I am glad to state the Department is putting considerable resources into the initial survey of the scale of the problem. We will start with a pilot study in County Laois. Officials from the Department are not only doing a desktop study of the issue but they are going out and inspecting the unfinished developments so we can quantify the scale of the problem. That is hugely important.

When we get to analysing the problem there are three main issues: the very important issue of public safety; the completion and management of the essential infrastructures and amenities; and the long-term future and resolution of the sites themselves. These are three very distinct problems with different scales of response from the Department, the National Asset Management Agency and the local authority.

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