Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear that at least one county, Wicklow, is managing to get fees out of developers. It is probably one of the few that is going to get them. Does the Minister of State accept that residents are being blackmailed and threatened by being told that their estates will not be finished, that they will not receive local services and that roads and underground systems will not be completed? It is being held against them. They are going to be deliberately discriminated against while this is going on. It is unacceptable that we should adopt the position of writing to local authorities to ask for their opinions. We should be telling them it is unacceptable to put this burden on residents. Residents have paid enough. They paid their development and planning fees and they paid for their services. They deserve the same as everyone else and they do not deserve to pick up the tab for any developer. That is the position the Government should adopt and put to local authorities. We should be unequivocal in that.

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