Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I do not wish to be confrontational but to echo the real concerns of people, we are putting together a best practice manual to assist local authorities in deciding on the remedial action to take. A primary concern is health and safety to ensure we do everything we can to stop children or vulnerable people going into unfinished developments. That key issue of securing the site is required. We can use the existing planning legislation to do much of that. We can also use the Derelict Sites Acts from 1990.

In terms of developments where the developer simply does not have the funds or is in liquidation, many of these loans will come under the ownership of the National Assets Management Agency and it will be a matter first and foremost for the agency to decide what to do.

Looking realistically at the issue, local authorities will take a proactive response. I spoke about unfinished buildings, but there is also the dangers of unfinished roads that have not received their final coat and that could present health and safety risks. The local authorities will need to take a proactive approach to ensuring that these issues are addressed in the short term.

On the wider issues, for example, where several homes are occupied in an estate but are largely unfinished, and where there might be a litter problem and/or a sewage problem, I believe that county and city managers will do all that they can to improve the quality of life in those areas.

There is no pot of money for completion, of which I am aware. In many cases, there are bonds that have been put up by the developer. We will see what can be done to utilise them to improve life.

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