Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for affording me the opportunity to raise once again this very important issue. I want to discuss the impact on the town of Naas of the stalling of the town centre development. It was thought up some years ago as a flagship development that would attract a major anchor tenant that would, in turn, attract footfall which would be of huge and dramatic importance in the development of the town and the resurgence of commerce and the business sector in the area. Unfortunately, owing to circumstances that affected many parts of the country at the time, the development ceased and the company is now in receivership. Since 2008 there have been numerous attempts to bring it back into focus, but it has not yet happened. Every time someone inquires about it, there are various responses, as the Acting Chairman will be aware. We hear such responses as a breakthrough is about to be achieved, or that there are very positive things happening, or that they know where they are going and need the right sequence of measures to be put in place, but whatever has happened until now it is not enough. We have had the excuses which have come from all quarters. The fact is that the town has been blighted by the development that has not proceeded. There is symbolism in the cranes that have been immobile for ten years. No matter what way the town is approached, the first things that can be see are the cranes.

I have had discussions with various people who have been involved in various proposals. I have also raised the matter in the House on several occasions and hope I will not have to raise it again. I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber to address this Topical Issue. This is a crucial time. We either make a breakthrough now or it will not happen at all.

I have made approaches to the arbitration authorities in an effort to apply pressure and get something done in the shortest possible time. I have been in touch with the local authority, as has everyone else. I have been in touch with the Minister, the Minister of State and their offices. There is little else I can do other than launch myself into space as a symbol of protest at this situation having remained immobile for so long.

Suffice it to say, there is still time to make a positive intervention. I am not blaming the Minister or his predecessors, but it is unacceptable that a business element in a major provincial town would be stalled in this fashion for ten years. Naas is well known throughout the country as being a market town and has always had a great reputation, as have its business people, and it has always enjoyed significant employment.

There needs to be a return of footfall to the town centre. Various developments have tended to draw the commercial sector outside the town. If that is allowed to continue, there will be more serious consequences and public confidence in the town will fail. So will confidence among business people, who invest their money in the town's businesses. It will all be to no avail unless something dramatic is done.

Will the Minister of State examine the issues and contact the parties involved with a view to bringing them together and knocking heads together, if necessary, in order to kick-start what has to happen sooner or later?

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. As someone who is familiar with Naas, I know the cranes to which Deputy Durkan referred. Sadly, there will not be much news in the response that I must give him.

I recognise and appreciate that the Deputy is eager, to say the least, to see this particular matter brought to a satisfactory resolution. As indicated in previous parliamentary responses on the issue, however, the management of the stalled development in Naas is primarily a matter for Kildare County Council in the first instance. With processes under way involving NAMA and arbitration, it would be inappropriate for the Minister to become involved. It would not be proper for the Minister with responsibility for planning matters to make representations on this issue because, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, he is precluded from exercising any power or control in respect of any case with which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála is or may be involved, except in very specific and extreme circumstances, which do not appear to apply in this case.

The Deputy will be aware that the hearing of evidence in the High Court in regard to a land title issue on Corban's Lane was completed on 14 June and that the relevant judgment is awaited. Consequently, the arbitration hearing cannot recommence until the High Court land title case is resolved and the judgment issued.

I am informed that Kildare County Council continues to engage in advanced discussions with NAMA and the receivers in an attempt to ensure that a satisfactory sale of the site in question will come about. The council has confirmed to the Department that it will brief all relevant Oireachtas and municipal district members as soon as there is progress to report.

As the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy English, have outlined, and subject to a satisfactory planning approval, there is no impediment to the appropriate development of the site. Kildare County Council recognises the strategic importance of the site and will continue to support and work in partnership with any stakeholder involved. In recent years, the council has initiated and supported a number of projects with the strategic objective of ensuring that the social and economic development of Naas is protected and enhanced. This work is underpinned by the work of the Naas roads and transport steering group, the URBACT group and the Naas regeneration group. Kildare County Council has also received approval from the National Transport Authority to prepare a traffic management study for Naas which will form one element of a strategic social and economic plan for the town.

While I am sure the Deputy is frustrated by the length of time it is taking to get the matter resolved, I know that the local authority is doing all it can within the parameters of its role. We must recognise the due processes that are necessary given the receivership issues that arise in this case, but I am hopeful that there will be further progress to resolve the matter and facilitate the development of this strategic town centre site.

This is the first time I have been asked a question on the issue. While we are precluded ministerially from getting directly involved in the planning affairs of local authorities when planning matters are before them, I am not precluded from inquiring of Kildare County Council about the current position. In light of the Deputy's interest, as well as my own, in the development of Naas town, I would have no problem with ascertaining that information.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. He rightly recognised the frustration of this and other Deputies, as well as everyone in Naas and the rest of the county, who have always regarded the town as-----

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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It is the county town.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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-----a major business centre in the province. Sadly, people's confidence in the marketing impact of Naas is beginning to wane. The Minister of State identified the reason, namely, the ten years. Who wants to wait ten years for statutory processes to conclude? If we have to wait ten years for people to make their minds up about something, it is time to ask questions. We have had to ask questions about a number of planning and development issues that have arisen across the country in recent times, although I will not go into individual cases now. The Acting Chairman, Deputy O'Rourke, knows as well as I do that if it takes so long to make a decision on a simple matter, I hate to think what would happen were we ever faced with a very difficult issue to resolve.

I accept the Minister of State's bona fides on this. While a Minister cannot directly involve himself or herself in a planning application, he or she has the right to find out what is happening, why it has been delayed, what the rate of progress has been annually in the past ten years, what rate is expected in the next ten years and how much longer we must await the outcome.

I have pursued this matter every which way. I have spoken down the years to every party involved. I have raised it in the House and received ministerial responses. It is unfair to Deputies and the Minister that we must continue waiting in this fashion for a simple answer to a simple issue that has been ongoing for such a long time. It is the old story of ransom strips. We cannot afford ransom strips. Incidentally, the people who feel offended may be right, but we are entitled to a decision. We cannot go on forever. We deserve a response to a matter of this nature.

The Minister of State could have a serious impact on this issue. It would be to the benefit of the area and public representatives everywhere who want to see progress when progress is demanded and required.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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While my role, as the Deputy acknowledged, is limited, that does not mean there is no role. I will endeavour to educate myself further. I am familiar with the site and the lack of activity thereon, but I am not as familiar as the Deputy or the Acting Chairman with the ins and outs of what is happening. The arbitration process is stalled pending the court's verdict on the case that concluded on 14 June. However, ascertaining information from the council is my job, and I have no difficulty with getting that information for Members.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State.