Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. Unfortunately I am disappointed with his reply. I accept that the Department is doing as much as it can for future developments.From the Minister of State's answer it seems that while residents face dealing with a series of overlapping agencies including the city council, the fire officer, the developer and the management companies, the Department is effectively sidestepping and saying it cannot intervene. I impress upon the Minister of State the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland's suggestion of an emergency fund to ensure that residents are not out of pocket. The Department must take this suggestion seriously. It does not come from me, but from an eminent organisation.

If I was one of these apartment owners living in Belmayne or Clongriffin, I would want to feel that the Department was not neutral or on the sidelines but actively engaged, concerned and trying to do something about it. Unfortunately, I do not get this impression from the Minister of State's answers. I would impress on him again, and on the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, that this is and should be their concern. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government must be cognisant of this.

I find it ironic when the Minister criticises me and people like me for casting a critical eye over planning applications that reach our desks. This is what happens when due diligence is not carried out. Ten years later we find ourselves looking at a situation like this because a developer with a profit motive went into an area, built a couple of apartment blocks and was never seen again, leaving a management company to pick up the mess. Residents are looking at costs of thousands of euro to fix the apartments in which they live. The stress this imposes on their day-to-day lives is immeasurable. I would suggest that we need a better response from the Department, and I ask the Minister of State to impress on Deputy Eoghan Murphy the need for a better response and for him to get off the fence and stand in the residents' corner.