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Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan today published a report on progress being made in tackling unfinished housing developments.

Progress to date includes:

1. Bringing together developers, banks, NAMA, local authorities, state agencies and representatives of residents in creating a more co-ordinated approach;

2. Putting in place site resolution plans, many of which are underway, that have a real impact on the ground and bring significant improvements to residents;

3. Tackling public safety issues that have arisen on some unfinished housing developments;

4. Raising confidence in our ability to tackle this problem by providing guidance and support.

The Minister said:

This report demonstrates that significant progress has been achieved in addressing the serious problem of unfinished housing estates.  On 211 estates work has been completed and issues are now resolved.  In 523 estates plans are now in place and in many of these cases work has commenced and significant progress will be achieved over the coming months.  In addition Government funding to target the most serious public safety issues has seen more than €3m invested in 128 developments to ensure that families and neighbours aren’t exposed to safety risks.”

“While progress has been achieved I don’t want to underestimate the challenge that lies ahead.  There are still too many families living on or nearby unfinished developments whose quality of life is seriously affected.  One of the important aspects of the work achieved in the past 12 months is that we now have a real partnership between local authorities, residents, developers and funders and a common will to tackle this issue.  I am determined to see additional progress in the coming year.

The Minister spoke to MerrionStreet.ie about the report, you can view her comments below...