Builders 'abandon' housing estates

The Government has reneged on a promise to tackle the problem of unfinished housing estates - which in the case of Co Kildare alone affects more than 19,000 homes, it has been claimed by opposition TDs.

The promise to tackle the issue of builders leaving housing estates unfinished was made by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche in advance of the Meath and Kildare by-elections last year.

But Labour's environment spokesman Eamon Gilmore has now claimed Mr Roche has reneged on a promise to facilitate a Labour Party Private Members Bill designed to tackle the problem.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Kildare by-election, Independent Catherine Murphy, has claimed the number of homes affected by unfinished estates and a lack of services is now 19,000 in Co Kildare.

According to Ms Murphy, whole housing estates in her constituency, and others around the country, have become classified by local authorities as "abandoned" as the developers responsible for their construction "have fled without having completed work on public spaces and services such as roads, footpaths and landscaping".

She insisted that houses up to 30 years old still do not have the security of being maintained by local authorities because they have not been adequately completed by the developer.

Mr Gilmore also complained about a reply from Mr Roche: "In March of last year I tabled a Private Members Bill, the Planning and Development Bill 2005, to deal with the blight of unfinished housing estates . . . the Government indicated that, subject to a number of amendments they would propose, they would facilitate its subsequent passage through the Dáil.

"In the course of the debate the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, congratulated me on the introduction of the Bill before saying: 'I am not opposing the Bill; everyone in the House is sympathetic to its aims'."

But Mr Gilmore said it was now almost a year later and the Minister was refusing to agree to the Bill being taken. Mr Gilmore claimed he was told priority must be given to the as yet unpublished Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill.

"This excuse simply does not make sense. The Labour Bill is a relatively short piece of legislation that would not place any undue pressure on either the committee or the department."

Mr Gilmore claimed the real reason for the delay was because the Minister had backed down in the face of pressure from builders.