Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue on a very important matter. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, but I am very disappointed there is no Minister or Minister of State from the Department of housing present. There is a housing crisis and we have a proposal to knock 52 almost-complete houses in Cashel, County Tipperary.
Tipperary County Council plans to demolish 52 partially-completed houses under Part 8 development. The decision defies logic in the middle of a national housing emergency. These units are not mere shells. They were all finished. Many of the windows and doors have been vandalised, through no fault of the developer. I compliment the developer on such fine, sturdy mass concrete houses. They have mass concrete foundations, mass concrete lintels down on piles on a very solid site overlooking Cashel. They have mass concrete floors, mass concrete walls, mass concrete first ceilings and mass concrete ceilings on top as well. These are the kinds of houses we are dealing with. All the roofs bar one are perfect. One roof is slightly damaged, either through vandalism or by the weather. The units are, as I said, not mere shells as many have windows, doors, plumbing and electrics. Independent assessments describe them as solid structures that are far from derelict. Importantly, a number of developers have expressed interest in redeveloping the site. However, instead of exploring refurbishment Tipperary County Council seeks to demolish them entirely. We have 3,600 families or persons on the approved housing list in the county and here there is 1,800 sq. m of housing - 52 fine and spacious three-bedroom houses which the council seeks to knock down. They could be luxury houses. When there is huge housing demand across the county it is indefensible that viable housing stock is to be destroyed rather than repurposed for private, social, affordable or indeed health accommodation.
Even more concerning is the lack of transparency about the costs. An independent quantity surveyor's report estimates a cost of €8 million for the demolition and remediation, yet the council has continually refused to release full costs to my office via freedom of information requests. The public and elected representatives are being asked to accept a multimillion euro demolition without access to the basic financial information needed to evaluate the site. Furthermore, they have been ordered not to visit the site. They were told they could be trespassing, which is not true according to the man who owns the site. The council states the buildings were originally intended as tourist accommodation and that the site is unzoned and outside the settlement boundary. However, that has all changed. We are 20 years on and we are in an emergency. National housing policy demands flexibility and reuse, not rigid adherence to outdated classifications. When thousands of people need homes we need to think outside the box. These houses were granted full planning permission in a decision that was upheld in the courts over a long number of years, but now the same council that granted permission seeks to demolish them.
Environmental policy is equally contradicted. Demolishing 52 concrete structures will create 13,582 tonnes of waste and this runs against Government commitments on sustainability and waste reduction. It flies in the face of the principles of low-carbon and climate-resilient development. The phrase, "The greenest building is the one that is already built", acknowledges that. This embraces the embedded carbon in these buildings and the enormous energy used to construct them. I have more to say but I will do so in my reply.
