Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

When I was speaking last on this Bill, I had reached the difficult issue with regard to development contracts in general, incomplete and poorly completed developments and, in particular, developments such as Priory Hall where construction quality was, to say the least, inferior. The round tower in my parish, Taghadoe, is more than 1,000 years old. As far as I am aware, there were no planning or building regulations or construction guidelines applicable at the time the tower was built, but it has stood the test of time and there has been no investigation as to why cracks appeared in it, because none appeared. It is a sad reflection on modern society and methods of building and provision of services for future generations that we face the kinds of situations unfolding before us at this time. There is no excuse for this.

Twenty years or more ago, there was a scheme in place which guaranteed the quality of building work for consumers, namely, the housebuilders guarantee scheme. This scheme covered everything and whatever was necessary was done. There were no limitations and everything was done in accordance with the commitment made. Where did we go wrong? What has happened? We find defects in developments throughout the country, nobody appears to accept responsibility and people have to go to court to have their rights vindicated. Furthermore, in these times of serious economic difficulty, unfortunate families must face the prospect of living in a building that is inadequately constructed, unsound and unfit for habitation for one reason or another.

More than ten years ago, I made a speech in this House that was critical of the quality of development taking place then. Developments accommodate people and these people are entitled to a reasonable quality of life when they buy, purchase or rent accommodation. I am extremely disappointed by the quality of some of the developments built. In recent years I have heard people scream and squawk about bad zoning decisions and bad planning. Not all zoning decisions were bad, but much of the development, design and construction in the past ten years leaves a lot to be desired. These developments were not designed to accommodate families. They are like chicken boxes. A large portion of the development that has taken place in the past ten or 15 years, in the middle of an economic boom, embodies those little boxes. People are contained like chickens in an incubation system.

Of all the negative economic events that have occurred, what has done most damage is the lack of quality in housing development that has been foisted on the public at a time when money was available to do significantly better. We now have families living in two-bedroomed accommodation in developments that were never intended to accommodate families. These units are now worthless in the market, but the people in them are basically prisoners because they cannot sell the properties, move out of them or walk away. They are imprisoned in their own properties and inferior developments. This does not apply to all developments and I acknowledge those developers who went out of their way to be constructive, to do the right thing and to live up to the highest standards. However, this did not always happen and this is what saddens me most.

Those of us who were here in the 1980s know there was very little money around then. However, the quality of housing development then was good and places built then have stood the test of time. People bought houses then that would last their lifetime. When they bought a family home, they could remain in it or trade up and move on if they wished. That is no longer the case. Everything is an emergency now and we have emergency accommodation to meet unknown requirements now and in the future. It is regrettable that after a time when so many resources were available to us, we have arrived at this juncture. It is regrettable that we - those who had responsibility for overseeing these issues - now walk away from the ashes of the Celtic tiger with nothing to offer to the new generation. All we can salvage from this is the satisfaction that those who did not buy houses, now have the opportunity to buy carefully.

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