Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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539. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when he anticipates publishing planning legislation that will introduce greater certainty and obligations with regard to where bonds and securities are required by a planning authority as part of a permission; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are many cases where a bond has expired or cannot be activated to help complete unfinished estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3720/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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On 20 June 2013, my Department issued Circular Letter PL 11/2013 to planning authorities in relation to the provision of adequate security provided under section 34(g) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, for the satisfactory completion of residential developments. The Circular advised on updated practice to be implemented in relation to bonds and securities for housing and other relevant developments, complementing previous circular PD 1/08 on the taking in charge of residential developments generally, including developments involving management companies. My Department has committed to keeping Circular Letter PL 11/2013 under review as required in order to take account of practical experience in the implementation of the guidance concerned. However I have no immediate plans to amend the planning legislation in this regard at this point in time.

Given the increasingly important role of securities in effecting the resolution of public infrastructure elements especially of unfinished housing developments, information has been collated nationally on the level of planning securities, including bonds, held by planning authorities in respect of unfinished housing developments.

Over the past four years, local authorities across the country have obtained more than €43.3 million from such securities to complete essential public infrastructure within housing developments including roads, water services, public lighting and amenity areas and where breaches of planning conditions have occurred. The yearly breakdown is as follows:

- 2010 - 2011: €23.9 million

- 2012: €3.9 million

- 2013: €2.9 million

- 2014: €12.6 million

In addition, Budget 2014 contained a special provision, in the form of a targeted €10m Special Resolution Fund (SRF), to assist further in addressing the legacy of unfinished housing developments. The SRF is designed to encourage the resolution of the remaining tranche of unfinished developments identified in the National Housing Development Survey 2013 and, particularly, those developments not likely to be resolved in the normal way through solely developer/owner/funder action because of the presence of specific financial barriers.

The management and administration of issues relating to unfinished housing developments, including bonds and securities, is a matter for individual local authorities. Each local authority has appointed an Unfinished Housing Development co-ordinator; contact details can be found at: .