Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Perhaps because the 5% is pretty clear. It is actual money. Local authorities did not require proper bonding and then it took housing estates in charge in cases of non-compliance or non-completion. The local authority bonding system related to a different type of circumstance. It was devised for traditional housing estate developments. Non-completion involved roads and footpaths. By and large in multi-unit developments one is talking about completely different issues in that one is dealing with a lot of internal common areas. It may be that a better and more detailed bonding system should be put in place. We will talk to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to see whether anything can be done. It may be that we will return to the notion of 5% or other percentage deduction before the Bill is finalised.

The Bill has taken a long time but it is an extremely complex one that involved detailed negotiations between Departments and with outside interests. To a certain extent the Bill has been rushed in that there has been a political imperative to introduce the legislation because there has been much hoo-hah in the Dáil in recent times on why the Bill has been delayed. We have been accused of holding it up and being against people's interests. If we are introducing legislation we should do it properly. I would like more time. The matter might not be resolved before Report Stage in the Seanad but I would like to think it would happen before the Bill is completed in the Dáil.

Senator Regan was proposing an amendment on taxation that was ruled out of order. The advice I received on his proposal is that it is more than likely that the provision he was suggesting would fall foul of EU rules, namely the VAT directive and the European Court of Justice case law which does not allow member states to make a person liable to an amount greater than he or she is entitled to receive.