Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to make contact with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, with regard to the implementation of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, which was a welcome measure introduced by the Government to kick-start regeneration in the housing market in remote parts of Ireland. I am concerned in particular that some councils are ignoring this legislative directive willy-nilly. Section 29 has been amended to deal with the question of unsold or unfinished houses. The application of the new scheme provided for has the support of the Construction Industry Federation.

Two instances have been brought to my attention where Cork County Council has ignored the Minister's directive and the legislation. That probably applies to other county councils as well. I am not referring to developments in Dublin but to a small village in west Cork that is trying to survive and where two pubs and a shop have been closed. A small builder with eight employed decided to take the risk of finishing a small estate that was uncompleted. The planning contributions as set out by the CIF, as indicated in this legislation under section 29, are being ignored by the planning authority and by the council as a whole. That is unfair because this man took the risk of going into an unfinished estate of approximately 20 houses where none of the houses were sold. Approximately ten of the houses were completed but this man's company went into liquidation. The developer, who was sucked into NAMA, did not pay a bob, yet the person in question is being penalised because he is being asked to pay the extra money. He is being told that each local authority has discretion.

I will give the Leader the information I have on this case and ask him to make contact on my behalf with the Minister to say that if this is happening it is both wrong under the law and it is unfair. It might also be happening in other local authorities. In effect, it is kicking those small builders in parts of Dublin outside Dublin city and Cork city who are trying to make a small village look a bit better, finish a few houses and try to sell them. That is not the intention of the Act and it certainly is not in the spirit of the Act.