Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018
104. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason he has withdrawn from a promised arrangement to allow persons (details supplied) to purchase their homes; the arrangements he plans to put in place to secure the homes of these persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50214/18]
View answerThe matter of the proposed sale of the former married quarters at Cathal Brugha Barracks has been on going for some time now. During this period, it emerged that there were legal difficulties in selling the properties as originally intended. In December 2016, the Chief State Solicitors Office met with the residents' legal advisers to outline the issues arising and, in order to resolve the matter, invited proposals as to how the sales could be facilitated. I am advised that this approach did not yield any viable proposals.
Having taken into consideration the advice of the Chief State Solicitor's Office, my officials have been left with no alternative but to formally withdraw from proceeding with the proposed sales. On the 1st November 2018 the Chief State Solicitor's Office wrote to the legal representatives of the occupiers advising them accordingly. As part of this communication my Department have indicated that it is intended to regularise the current occupancies of those people who were the subject of the original sales offer.
