Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted that he has been elevated to this ministerial position. I am also glad that he attends Cabinet meetings. I know his record of protecting the most vulnerable in society over many years and I wish him well in his new ministerial portfolio.

The number of unfinished estates is clearly at a record high. The public consultation draft document, Managing and Resolving Unfinished Housing Estates, which was published in December 2010, showed that more than 2,800 housing developments were started but not fully completed as a result of the wider economic downturn. The report also highlighted the marked decline in housing construction with completions down from a peak of 90,000 housing units in 2007 to 26,500 units in 2009. An estimated 14,000 units were constructed last year.

Although this is an extremely worrying trend, it would be wrong of us to focus solely on the numbers of such estates. We need to look at the human tragedy, which is at the heart of this matter. Many of these estates look like building sites and have large numbers of families living in them. They are in need of immediate action to deal with public safety hazards such as unsecured construction materials, open excavation pits and uncovered manholes. In addition, partially completed buildings could be unstable where no current on-site work has been undertaken and the vacancy rate is over 50%.

Quite often there is no public lighting, in addition to problems with water and sewerage services, poor road surfaces, no pavements and no open areas. Like many colleagues in this House, when I was canvassing in the last local elections and the general election, I came across such estates. It was dangerous to canvass due to the lack of public lighting and unfinished footpaths. Something has to be done to make these estates safe and habitable so that these families - many of whom bought their houses in good faith and are now in negative equity - can raise their children with some dignity and in relative safety. As the father of young children myself, I am aware of the lure of unfinished and abandoned sites, and the potential for serious injury or even loss of life.

With regard to the report published this week, I am glad that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has successfully investigated the situation and responded by laying out a set of actions, as outlined by the Minister of State. I welcome the proposal that legislation is to be reviewed with the intention of putting site resolution plans on a statutory basis and existing legislation amended to aid their implementation.

While I acknowledge the positive aspects of the Department's response, I still have a number of real concerns. The first relates to the need for swift and speedy action. It has already taken an unacceptable length of time from the initial announcement by the Department of its intention to carry out a detailed national survey of all housing developments of two houses or more in the State in autumn 2010, to the production of a final report. Despite the time given to producing this report, many of the action points contained in the Department's response document are still being assessed and formulated. That is unacceptable.

The response document also indicates the Government's establishment of a national co-ordination committee to oversee the implementation of action on unfinished developments. This committee is chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose. I am glad to know that the committee has already met twice, but it should achieve a resolution as speedily as possible. We owe it to families across the country who are confronted on a daily basis with grave health and safety issues, to proceed with as much speed as possible to remedy the dreadful situation in which they find themselves. I know that some local authorities and developers or receivers have already made efforts to address some of these concerns. However, this has only happened since the first €1.5 million of the €5 million funding allocated in February this year by the former Minister of State, Michael Finneran, was released to local authorities to tackle issues on the worst 230 identified estates. This funding was made available on foot of a recommendation by the advisory group on unfinished housing developments to prioritise action on 400 of the most problematic housing developments where there were critical issues, and to resolve them as soon as possible.

I also note from the Department's response document that its aim is to have 300 site resolution plans in place by the end of the year. That is 10.5% of all estates or, on average, nine per local authority. I am not clear whether the intention is to have 300 site resolution plans drawn up by the end of this year or to be engaged in the process of implementing them. Perhaps the Minister of State will clarify that in his reply. I am seeking clarity on this point because it is imperative that we reach the implementation phase across the country sooner rather than later. Speed is of the essence, as the Minister of State is aware. Nonetheless, I acknowledge the efforts he has made to date.

Finance is another concern because finishing estates is going to cost a considerable amount of money. The national survey has shown that there are 1,655 estates where a substantial amount of work remains to be done. Can the Minister of State tell the House where the money will come from to finish these estates? If the €5 million from the Department is split across 1,655 estates it will result in a sum of €3,200 per estate. That is a drop in the ocean and will make no obvious improvement. Additional funding is required and, while I appreciate it will be difficult to source, it will have to be obtained because this is a major health and safety issue.

Some 38 unfinished estates were identified in County Cavan and my colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, has made representations to the Minister of State about them. Having spoken personally to Cavan County Council, I understand it has identified 12 housing estates that urgently need to be dealt with. I ask the Minister of State to fast-track the application by Cavan County Council, which is seeking approximately €500,000. This work needs to be carried out urgently.

Can the Minister of State outline the criteria used to identify these estates? My understanding is that if a person has two unfinished houses, they will fall into this category. Is that part of the criteria used in putting together this report? Perhaps the Minister of State could also outline how many of the identified 1,655 estates that are in real difficulty will be rectified or safely secured by the end of this year.

Once again, I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He has hit the ground running and I believe he is doing an excellent job. The necessary finances should be provided to him because this is an urgent matter that needs to be rectified for those families living in unfinished housing estates, including their children who find themselves playing in dangerous conditions.