Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I agree with several of the remarks of Deputy Pat Rabbitte. In my time in public life many developments have been subject to a lack of clarity, that is to say, a lack of something the consumer or purchaser could rely on and be assured that he or she entered into a contract with the end in sight. Such an arrangement would ensure he or she was provided for and some means existed to ensure that there would be no long drawn-out efforts on the part of local authorities dealing directly with the management company or with the developer. In some cases the developer may have left the scene, this has taken place in many cases recently. There are a significant number of developments throughout the country at present where the developer is no longer functioning on the scene. In some cases, the management company originally set up has disappeared or has malfunctioned because either the development has not been completed in accordance with the planning permission conditions or because of the economic conditions which prevail. It would have been far better if some assurance could have been given at the outset such that when each party to the contract, that is, the buyer and the seller, entered into that contract, he or she knew where the end would be.

The Minister and Deputy Rabbitte referred to snags. Snags are being dealt with for three, four, five or ten years in some cases. Recently, I was in an estate where there is ten years of snagging. I read a letter written by the local authority to the developer, the likes of which I have never read before. It is a crazy situation. The unfortunate residents in such situations are stuck and they wonder how they arrived at that position.

Some 25 or 35 years ago it was possible for a local authority to challenge a developer seeking further or subsequent planning permission in cases where that developer had not completed the current development. It was possible for the local authority to refuse planning permission because the developer had not proved in a satisfactory fashion that he or she was a capable person. What happened then? Someone went to court and, sadly, the courts changed the position. That is case law. I put it to the Minister there is a serious need for an assurance to protect the purchaser. Sadly, many purchasers have been let down through a variety of circumstances, some of which are of their own making but some of which are not.

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