Mary Moran (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and I am pleased to note a fellow Louth person will take this debate which relates to the appalling living conditions being endured by two families on a ghost estate known as Carlinn Hall in Dundalk. I will briefly explain the position of the families. They bought houses at opposite ends of the estate and out of sight of each other. This is important because it shows how isolated they are, living as they do at either end of an otherwise unoccupied estate. They informed me that they believed they were buying dream homes and put their life savings into them. The estate featured on a television programme which billed its homes as the houses of the future, with eco-friendly heating systems and every modern convenience. However, the developer went bankrupt before the estate was finished and it was taken over by the National Asset Management Agency which has since appointed receivers. By that stage, the two unfortunate families had already completed the sales and having invested considerable sums of money in their homes, they had no alternative but to move into them.

They had put all their savings into their houses and had no alternative but to go ahead and move in.

Since then both families have had and continue to have serious problems with basic utilities which, in 2012, I find very hard to believe. They have enormous problems with sewerage, heating, street lighting and the general safety because of the unfinished houses. After four years of living there, the whole affair has taken its toll on them in many different ways. Now they are in a position where the receivers, on behalf of NAMA, have said that while they sympathised with the families, they are have no responsibilities regarding the management or maintenance of the sewerage, heating or safety in the estate. I will quote from correspondence received by the families:

NAMA does not hold a charge over 4 Carlinn Hall or 26 Carlinn Court and, as such, they fall outside of the remit of the receivership and, as such, the receiver is not authorised to deal with either of the properties. While the receiver sympathises with the position of the owners of the properties, any defects affecting these properties are not the responsibility of NAMA or the receiver.

The owner of one of the houses showed me the carpet in one of his children's bedroom. It froze solid and crystals formed on its surface during the cold spell two years ago. That same owner can put his hand through a hole in the wall of the attic and reach into the unoccupied shell of the house next door. In reality, he has only a three-walled house as the wall adjoining the house next door is merely plasterboard. It is not insulated which means that all of the heat escapes into the adjoining house and the family has to rely on electric heaters during the winter. Both families have also been plagued by mice.

There is no on-street lighting which, in an unfinished estate like this, means it is very dark at night. On the afternoon that I visited, the owners reported to me that the gardaí had just left. They had been in the estate because there is constant theft going on, with people taking items from the unoccupied houses. There is also another estate directly across the road. As we all know, empty houses can lead to an increase in anti-social behaviour.

This is an enormous problem for people who paid large sums of money for these houses. The two families spent the last few years pleading for the unfinished section of the houses to be cordoned off but that was only completed after the tragic death of a young child on another unfinished estate in another part of the country. Neither house is directly connected to the sewerage system and this must addressed immediately. One of the families has to collect rainwater in order to flush out the system every few weeks. In 2012 that is totally unacceptable for people who have put their life's work into their home. Every man's home is his castle but that is certainly not the case here.

In the other home, the owner told me that he tried to plant a tree a number of years ago. He dug about six inches down, only to be met by sludge. Something must be done about this, from a health and safety point of view.

They are literally banging their heads off the wall because nothing has been done to date. I ask the Minister of State to outline what can be done for these families, who, through no fault of their own, have been left in these dreadful circumstances.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for bringing this matter before the House. I am appalled by the litany of problems she has outlined and by the fact that families are living in such conditions.

I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Finance and would be happy to bring what the Senator has said to his direct, personal attention.

The Minister has been informed by NAMA that the receiver, Farrell Grant Sparks, is in control of this development. NAMA approved the funding of remediation work on this development and the receiver notified it that the works were completed in mid-February 2012. The development is being marketed for sale by Sherry Fitzgerald Carroll.

The Senator may be aware that following publication of the report of the advisory committee on unfinished housing developments in June 2011, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with responsibility for housing, Deputy Jan O' Sullivan, established a national co-ordinating committee to oversee planning and implementation of remediation programmes in respect of unfinished estates. NAMA is represented on this commission and is proactively engaged in policy processes aimed at the resolution of the problem.

I am advised by NAMA that of the 243 estates categorised by local authorities as the most problematic from a public safety perspective, namely, category four estates, 29 or 12% are controlled by NAMA debtors or receivers. NAMA is funding out of its own resources, through its debtors and receivers, the cost of urgent remediation work, estimated at ¤3 million, and significant progress is being made.

I am also advised that attention is now focusing on 1,500 category three estates, which are considered to be the next most problematic from a public safety perspective. A total of 150, or 10%, of these estates are linked to NAMA debtors. Work is at an advanced stage in terms of identifying the remedial action necessary for each site, as well as agreeing plans and timetables for optimum site resolution.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I am very disappointed with that answer. I have met the people concerned and seen the suffering they are going through. They paid huge sums of money for these houses. NAMA has said that the receiver notified it that the works were completed in mid-February but I visited the site last Friday and saw how one house is connected to another via a plasterboard wall that is not insulated.

I want to know what can be done for these families. They want NAMA, the receiver or somebody to talk to them and tell them what can be done for them. Apart from any other considerations, from a health and safety point of view the situation is totally unsatisfactory and something must be done urgently.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Senator. These houses are in my constituency and I would be very happy to follow up on the matter with the Senator. The first step might be to arrange a meeting with the receivers and with NAMA to go through the issues. NAMA has stated that it was informed that the works were completed but clearly, there is work that was not done. That is the most practical suggestion I can make. I take on board fully the appalling conditions that the Senator has outlined and I agree that it is absolutely unacceptable. I will be happy to bring this to the attention of the Minister and my feelings on the matter are exactly the same as the Senator's. We must find a solution to this problem urgently.