Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I can understand the deep frustration of the residents, which the Deputies have articulated, but we should not lose sight of the fact that Mr. McFeely is responsible for this as well as the professional people, as Deputy Wallace said, who signed off on this development. That is no comfort to the residents this evening as we speak in this House in terms of the difficulties they have experienced, through no fault of theirs, but due to the negligence on the part of the developer and the professional people who signed off on the development, as Deputy Wallace indicated.

The legal proceedings in regard to Priory Hall are continuing but I wish they were over in order that I could do much more than I can do now from a legal point of view. The Department is being kept informed by Dublin City Council of developments with regard to the issues at Priory Hall. The Department is also assisting the council, in consultation with NAMA, in securing alternative accommodation on a temporary basis for the residents. We are making financial contributions to the residents to ensure we deal with the temporary issues they have in the context of a judgment of the High Court, which showed that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government was not responsible. Dublin City Council is the designated authority in regard to these issues and it pursued the developer when it came to its attention in 2009 that there were difficulties. Unfortunately, it took two years to get the developer to court to deal with some of the issues about which we now all know.

I would like to be in a position to tell the Deputies that we can move quickly on this matter but the council, through court proceedings, has brought the developer, on behalf of the residents, to book. Legal complications in this respect have now gone as far as the highest court in the land. I had hoped that we could have dealt with these issues without going to that extreme. I cannot meet the residents because I am a party to the proceedings in so far as helping Dublin City Council to meet some of the financial obligations of the residents and in meeting their immediate demands on a temporary basis. I am not in a position to meet them but I will be glad to meet a representative group of the residents as soon as the court proceedings are completed.

The overriding priority for me arising from this case is that last June before the issue came to court, I immediately initiated a review of the building control standards and the building control legislation and I have put forward for public consultation a new mandatory certification in order that we can ensure that none of the problems in regard to this developer or the professional advisers involved will happen again.

I assure Deputy Wallace in particular that we are following up on all the insurance issues and professional indemnities in regard to the professions involved. I say to Deputy Clare Daly that I cannot mediate while the issue is before the courts.

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