Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

In case that change does not happen I will be very brief in order to allow the Minister time to respond. There is real concern that capital projects are being placed in jeopardy in the council. It is very clear that that is the case. There is a smell about this when a Fine Gael Senator is raising questions that should have been dealt with by the party internally before any order was signed. It stinks to high heaven at this late stage. The Minister has said that there is a seven figure cash reserve, but I do not know why he is not telling us more about that. He has told us there are fixed assets but he will not tell us how much they are worth or whether they are capable of being sold on. We do not know what the liability of the local council is.

A risk assessment was carried out. Was the Dublin Port Company approached to take over Dún Laoghaire port at some stage? Is it the case that it walked away once the risk assessment was carried out and that the council now is faced with the burden of risk? We are having this debate with very little information. Senator Boyhan made some very important points that must be answered for the sake of transparency. There has been very little transparency about this. The Seanad and the local council are both having the debate after the event. We should have had statements on this move prior to any sign-over, and local councillors should have been kept fully informed about the liabilities they will be entering into. I have real problems with capital programmes in the local authorities being placed in jeopardy, especially if those programmes affect housing.