Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, express my condolences to Senator Eamonn Coghlan on the death of his mother. I also welcome Jody Blake back to the House.

I very much appreciate the assistance and co-operation of the Fianna Fáil Whip, Senator Diarmuid Wilson, at this very difficult time for us. I am sure all Members will understand that we are all very upset about Senator Harte and we wish for him and his family that he has a speedy recovery.

I welcome the announcement yesterday from the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, that she has identified 40 unfinished so-called ghost estates that she wants to have cleared within the next 12 months. This is to be by agreement with the owners and developers of these estates. Interestingly, only one in five of the ghost estates that remain to be resolved are in the possession of NAMA. Therefore, many of the developers involved in these remaining ghost estates are small-scale developers and these loans in respect of them are held by the banks directly.

It is important to acknowledge that progress has been made on the issue of ghost estates in that there are fewer than 1,300 compared with nearly 1,800 this time last year and that money has been made available by Government, €5 million up to now and an additional €10 million announced in the budget this year, to complete those estates that can be finished. I believe we would all accept that they are worst blot on the landscape remaining from the Celtic tiger days. Apart from asking the Leader to invite the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, into the House to discuss the progress that has been made on unfinished estates, this issue raises another more serious issue, namely, that very significant development levies were raised by local authorities from the construction sector during the Celtic tiger years. Could the Minister of State be asked to give an account to this House of the balance of development levies that are left in the accounts of local authorities and what is being done with that money? It is my understanding that a very significant sum of money remains with local authorities that was raised by development levies.

I am also aware there are difficulties in having local authorities take into charge estates that were built during the Celtic tiger years. In spite of a circular letter that was issued, I believe, in 2008 that was supposed to speed up this process, I am aware that many local authorities will not now take into charge estates that were built in the 2000s. Will the Leader invite the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, to come into the House to give us a report on that?