Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State is welcome. As chairman of the national co-ordination committee, the Minister of State has the unenviable role in the management of what is a difficult issue to have to deal with. The Minister of State will be working with bankers, developers, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and local authorities. The Minister of State has already referred to the work of that group. What is the position with regard to the laying of a progress report of the committee before the House before next summer when, as the Minister of State has suggested, the report will be completed? The committee is involved in the directing of spending of public moneys and his predecessor committed to spending the sum of between €3 million and €5 million allocated. Many people are keen to know which sites are being prioritised and selected for spending. When one considers the relatively small sums of money involved and this is contrasted with the large number of properties and estates which need urgent improvement, it is appropriate that the House should be informed of the actual spending decisions of the committee.

It is frightening to consider the scale of the problem which the Minister of State, the committee and all of us face. The recent report on the subject by the advisory group on unfinished housing developments outlined that there are more than 23,000 complete and vacant dwellings and an additional 10,000 are almost complete. The issue of unfinished dwellings in new housing developments is a matter of major national concern. We should not forget the serious impact this issue has had on those most affected, namely, the residents of these developments.

I mentioned the Minister of State's predecessor, the former Deputy Finneran, allocated up to €5 million to rectify the most serious safety hazards on unfinished housing estates. At the time, this was probably seen by cynics as an attempt to buy votes. However, I am concerned that the funds committed work out at approximately €14,000 per afflicted estate. This is a derisory amount in terms of the ability to implement proper safety precautions and to address these concerns. At the time, the Minister of State indicated that he was committing the funds because he felt a moral responsibility to residents of ghost estates. I am sure the Minister of State feels a similar responsibility but he will be unable to do much about it unless the funds are available. We must remind ourselves that there is an aspect of human dignity with this issue. It is dreadful to think of people living in housing estates which resemble Grozny or Sarajevo after a battle. Thousands of people are caught in the bind of living in what are, in fact, abandoned building sites with all the risks these entail, especially for children.

The residents are doubly aggravated by their plight because so many are living with negative equity as well as a dispiriting or even dangerous environment. I am concerned that the €3 million in emergency funding provided by the Department is merely a tiny first tranche of what will be needed to deal with these ghost estates. Of course, this is a problem which the Minister of State has inherited. We should recall the upper Shannon rural renewal scheme introduced by Charlie McCreevy in 1998 which resulted in a proliferation of unfinished estates in Leitrim, Longford, west Cavan, north Roscommon and south Sligo, all of which were covered by tax incentives. It was a classic example of planning failure and lack of foresight which reminds me of Ben Bernanke remark about having to be the person to come in while the party is in full swing and take away the punch bowl. Clearly, the punch bowl was not taken away in time in this case. A quick calculation reveals that in excess of 12% of the complete and vacant dwellings are in the five counties that were subject to the rural renewal scheme section 23 incentives, a remarkably high figure considering the local population.

My colleagues have already outlined the problems arising from the existence of these sites, including piles of rubble, open pits, uncovered manholes and unstable structures. These are among the hazards to be addressed by local authorities. Will the Minister of State clarify the avenues open to local authorities to recoup the emergency expenditure from missing developers or by securing a lean on the future sale of houses? Will this require legislation? Has the committee of which the Minister of State is Chair made any recommendations in this regard about which he could advise us?

A further issue arises in respect of the reported non-co-operation of banks with the task of cleaning up the mess left in the wake of the building boom. A report in the Irish Independent on 10 June suggested the banks are choosing to avoid their legal responsibilities for cleaning up hundreds of unfinished housing estates. The article also stated that some 230 unfinished and dangerous estates have been abandoned by developers. The banks which funded these projects have decided not to appoint receivers in an attempt to claw back the money. If receivers were appointed in these cases, the banks would be legally responsible for cleaning up the mess. In the same article, the Minister of State remarked that in some cases efforts by local authorities to meet banks and developers to discuss the problem had met with no response. The Minister of State warned that he would consider introducing legislation to force banks to take responsibility or to face the prospect of being fined. Have the banks changed course and begun to co-operate with the Department and local authorities? If not, what legislation does the Minister of State propose to table to compel their co-operation? Under the Derelict Sites Act, the Minister has the powers under section 12 of the principal Act "to make provision with respect to land to prevent it being or becoming a derelict site, to enable local authorities to require the taking of measures on derelict sites by the owners or occupiers and, in certain circumstances, to acquire derelict sites compulsorily" and to levy fines.

In light of the report of the advisory group on unfinished housing developments we know there are more than 1,600 developments with outstanding works needed. Of these, 230 have effectively been abandoned and the developer or site owner is not contactable when the receiver is appointed. Considering the significant planning, building control, compliance and public safety issues to be addressed, is it not after time to consider amendments to the Derelict Sites Act with a view to increasing the Minister's powers to levy fines and to compel banks and developers to co-operate with local authorities?