Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's response. It gives me hope. The only thing that worries me is that one can say "Live horse and you will get grass" in many of these situations. We have done this before. A major issue was to get an anchor tenant to suit the location and a great deal of work has been done on that. It is to be hoped that has concluded satisfactorily at this stage. It should be. I am a little concerned that we still have two outstanding matters, one in respect of arbitration and the other in respect of the High Court, each of which can affect the other. It is very frustrating to find after two, three, four or five years that we are still addressing the issue that was the kernel of the problem initially. It is no harm to point out that Naas was and is a very busy and important trading town in the province of Leinster, drawing in a population from a wide catchment area.

I know the Minister of State is aware of this. It is a major blow to any town to have a derelict or semi-derelict site right in the middle of it because it gives of a bad impression. It automatically makes one wonder why something is not happening about this. I raised this question previously and I know the Minister of State is conscious that it is time to do something about it. I have raised it once again at this stage in the sincere hope that we do not have to come back to the issue any time soon and that there will be some breakthrough as a result of which we will see action so that at long last the issue that has damned the area for so long will be resolved.

I cannot understand why issues of that nature hold up a major development for so long. I believe we need legislative changes to ensure those kinds of things do not happen in the future. They do not happen anywhere else and should not happen in this country. Notwithstanding that, I am hopeful that what the Minister of State has said tonight will bear fruit in the very near future.

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