Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)

The compulsory purchase order, CPO, system is there to support development. I wish to raise a road that was developed in Galway, the N63. When a local authority serves a notice to treat, that is when it has entered into an arrangement, on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, or the National Transport Authority, NTA, to purchase land to develop it. In this instance, the notice to treat was served in 2014 but, to date, the landowners have not got paid. They have made numerous representations regarding what they perceive to be the value of the land and the loss of sites but, regrettably, the local authority has not made an offer to date. The landowners have made a freedom of information request, which, unfortunately, was initially refused. It is hard to believe it was refused. That landowner has incurred serious stress and upset over ten years.

I raise this today because we have just completed submissions for a national development plan. We all talk about wanting to invest in, develop and improve our infrastructure but there has to be an element of trust in the process. All those in the process have to be good actors. That is how you bring people to the table and ensure development can happen at pace. Is the case I am raising an outlier? I have not mentioned the local authority or any individuals. I would love the Minister for local government to tell me how many notices to treat are in excess of the 12-month period where the landowner is waiting for payment. That is important information. We want to go forward and there is a lot of development happening but where landowners have been waiting more than ten years for a payment, there is something radically wrong.